The most recent population estimate for Sheffield is 584,853 people. This reflects a 17,000-person gain since the last census in 2011. The city’s population has grown faster than the national average in the twenty-first century, and it is expected to reach over 600,000 by 2022. This is largely due to immigration and relatively high birth rates.
Sheffield’s population grew significantly during the industrial revolution, as it did in many other British cities, as the city attracted enormous numbers of individuals looking for work in the local industries (particularly the cutlery and steel industries). Despite a fall in manufacturing jobs beginning in the 1970s, the population remained relatively steady at around 515,000 for the majority of the twentieth century. This was owing, in part, to the city’s efforts to attract white-collar jobs.
By far the most populous ethnic group in Sheffield is what the 2011 census defined as White British—white individuals of British heritage, who account for approximately 81% of the city’s population, an 8% decrease from 2001. The remaining fraction of the city’s population comes from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Sheffield’s minority ethnic population increased by more than 80% between the 1991 and 2001 censuses. South Asians, Somalis and Ethiopians, Black Africans, East Europeans, and other ethnic minorities exist.
The most frequent languages spoken in Sheffield are English, Arabic, and Urdu, and the most common religions are Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
