The population of England and Wales has grown by more than seven per cent since 2001, the first release of data from the 2011 census shows.

The estimate, based on the census taken on March 27 2011, recorded a population of 53.0 million in England and 3.1 million in Wales, representing an increase of 3.7 million in the decade since the 2001 census, which recorded a population of 52.4 million.

This increase of 7.1 per cent represents the largest growth in the population in England and Wales in any 10-year period since the 1911 census.

The data published on the ONS website along with an interactive graphic comparing the past 100 years’ census data, shows estimates of the the usually resident population estimates for England and for Wales, broken down by age, sex, region, and local authority.

It also provided estimates of the number of occupied households for England and for Wales broken down by region and local authority.