Key Facts and Figures

This page offers key facts and figures about the Isle of Wight. This information is also available in a printer-friendly factsheet – click here to view.

About the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight lies off the south coast of mainland England and covers an area of 146.8 sq miles (38.016 hectares, or 380.16 km2).

The largest towns on the Island are Newport (population circa 17,300), Ryde (population circa 18,800) and West Cowes (population circa 14,800 people).

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Isle of Wight Council
The Isle of Wight Council is a unitary authority, and is made of 39 areas, known as wards. 38 wards return a single representative to the Council, and 1 (Brading, St Helens and Bembridge) returns 2 representatives.

The council was elected on 4 June 2009 and has 40 elected councillors. The political make-up is 25 Conservative, 9 Independent, 4 Liberal Democrat, 1 Labour and 1 other.

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Population
The Isle of Wight has a population of 138,300 (2011 Census estimate). The population on the Island has increased by around 5,500 people since 2001 (from 132,731, an increase of around 4%) and by 12,400 people since 1991 (from 125,900, an increase of around 9%).

Population projections (based on 2010 estimates) suggest the Island’s population will increase to 145,600 (4.2%) by 2022 and to 152,600 (9.2%) by 2035. By far the largest increase is projected to be in the 65+ age group, this group growing by around 62% (or 36% of the total population) by 2035.

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Demographics
The Isle of Wight has a large older (65+) population, making up over 24% of the total population. There is a small young (0-14) population, just over 15% of the total population, and the 15-64 age bands contributes just under 61% of the total population.

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Ethnicity
The black and minority ethnic (BME) population is the Isle of Wight remains fairly small, despite estimated increases in recent years. The 2001 Census showed the total BME population was 3.23% of the total population.

Recent projections (2009) suggest the BME population could have almost tripled to 8.3% of the total population, but still below the projected BME populations in the South East (14.3%) and England (17.2%).

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Health
Life Expectancy (at birth) on the Isle of Wight is 79.1 years for men and 83.2 for women, higher than the national figures of 78.3 and 82.3 years respectively (3 year rolling average 2007/09).

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Economy
On the Isle of Wight (October 2012) 3,158 (2,150 male / 1,008 female) people claimed Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), which accounts for 3.8% of the local working age population (16-64), compared to 2.5% in the South East and 3.8% in Great Britain.

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Housing
In 2011 the Isle of Wight had approximately 68,113 dwellings. The 2001 Census indicates 10.3% are owned by registered social landlords (RSL) and the other 89.7% in the private sector (owner occupied and private rented). In comparison, in the South East 86.0% of housing is in the private sector and for England this is 82.0%.

The average house price on the Isle of Wight in September 2012 was £150,025. In comparison, the South East average house price was £210,301 and the England and Wales average house price was £162,561.

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Environment
The Island covers an area of 147 square miles (38100 hectares) and its coastline is approximately 57 miles long. The Island is a predominantly rural area with approximately 50% of the Island designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

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Deprivation
The 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivation indicated that five Island LSOAs (Lower Super Output Areas) fell within the 20% considered to be the most deprived in England, these were: Pan A, Pan B, Ryde North East B, St Johns West A and Ventnor East A.

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