Statistics about the borough

• Waltham Forest is home to an estimated 278,400 residents as of March 2021 and 102,900 households (ONS, Census 2021)
• The median age of residents is 35.6 years compared to the England average of 40.2 years.
• Our borough is one of the most diverse areas in the country. An estimated 53% of residents are from a minority ethnic background.
• The top six countries of origin for residents born overseas are Romania (11,000), Hungary (6,000), Poland (6,000), Bulgaria (5,000), and Lithuania (5,000) and Pakistan (5,000). (ONS 2019)
• The top five languages spoken locally other than English are Urdu, Polish, Romanian, Turkish and Lithuanian.
• 94.3% of enterprises in Waltham Forest are micro businesses employing fewer than 10 people.
• As of June 2022, more than 145,000 working age residents (74.3%) are in employment (Nomis, 2022)
• The median annual earnings for full-time working residents is £36,000 (Nomis, 2021)
• Waltham Forest is currently ranked 82nd most deprived borough nationally according to the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation (an improvement from 35th in the 2015 edition, and 15th most deprived in the 2010 edition).
• Life expectancy in Waltham Forest is similar to England’s average – 79.8 for male and 83.2 for female,  average life expectancy for Waltham Forest is 81.5 years 
• The average house price in the borough as of March 2022 was £500,000, an increase of 51% since 2015, (ONS, 2022) 

Population

According to the Census 2021 population estimates by the Office of National Statistics, Waltham Forest is home to a total of 278,400 people. Please visit our Data Hub if you would like to find out more about the demographics in Waltham Forest, including data briefs, posters, Power BI dashboard, charts and ONS’s tools.

Waltham Forest has a younger than average population with 24.5 per cent of residents being aged 0 to 19 compared to 23 per cent in London and 23 per cent nationally. Like London, Waltham Forest also has a high proportion of working-age adults aged 16 to 64 (70.8 per cent compared to 70 per cent in London and 64.2 per cent nationally). There are proportionately fewer people aged over 65 living in Waltham Forest (10 per cent) compared to London (12 percent) and the UK average (18 per cent).

Table 1 Census 2021 population estimates by broad age group

Source: Office for National Statistics, Census 2021

Age Grouping	Waltham Forest	WF %	London	London %	England	E %
0-4	19,000	6.8%	529,000	6.0%	3,077,000	5.4%
5-9	17,400	6.3%	531,500	6.0%	3,348,600	5.9%
10-19	31,700	11.4%	1,024,800	11.6%	6,632,000	11.7%
20-64	181,800	65.3%	5,671,100	64.4%	33,030,900	58.5%
65-89	27,200	9.8%	993,000	11.3%	9,903,000	17.5%
90+	1,200	0.4%	50,400	0.6%	498,200	0.9%
Total	278,300		8,799,800		56,489,700

Please note all sums are rounded to the nearest 100

Population Projections

The Greater London Authority (GLA) 2021 round of population projections estimate that the Waltham Forest population will increase from 276,350 residents in 2021 to a total of 287,800 by 2026, an increase of 11,450 (4.1%). The fastest growing group is projected to be those aged 18-21 (13.5%) and 65+ (15.5%).

Table 2 GLA borough preferred option (BPO) 2019-based housing-led population projections (based on the submitted development trajectory for Waltham Forest; medium migration scenario)

Age Grouping	2021	2026	Total change	Percent change
0-4	19,990	18,640	-1,350	-6.7
5-11	24,680	24,730	60	0.2
12-17	19,080	19,820	740	3.9
18-21	10,690	12,130	1,440	13.5
22-64	170,530	176,250	5,730	3.4
65+	31,380	36,230	4,850	15.5
Total	276,350	287,800	11,450	4.1

By 2050, there is expected to be 321,930 person living in Waltham Forest, and increase of 45,580 persons (16.5%).

Ethnicity

Waltham Forest remains in the top 20 most diverse areas in the country.  In 2021 an estimated 47% of residents are from a minority ethnic background a slight decrease from 48% in 2011. In 2021 Waltham Forest ranked as the 18th most diverse borough in England and Wales in comparison to 2011 that was ranked as the 10th most diverse.

In 2021, 53% (147,000) of usual residents in Waltham Forest identified their ethnic group within the high-level "White" category, a slight increase from 52% (135,000) in the 2011 Census. When at the same time the total population of White people in England and Wales records a continuous decrease of nearly 5%.

In 2021, as part of the "White" ethnic group, 64% (95,000) of the total population in Waltham Forest identified their ethnic group as "English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British", this is a continued decrease from 69% (135,000) in 2011, and from 90% (127,000) who identified this way in 2001. Similar trend is recorded nationally although the decrease is sharper and recorded to 6 percentage points to the total population.

Most common high level ethnic group after “White” at the latest Census 2021 results was Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh accounting for 19.9% (54,000) of the overall population in Waltham Forest, although percentage point decreased by 1.2 points since 2011.

Across the 19 ethnic groups (excluding White British), the largest percentage point increase was seen in the number of people identifying themselves as "White: Other White" category (17%, 46,000 in 2021, up from 15%, 37,000 in 2011) and "Other ethnic group: Any other ethnic group" (5%, 13,000 in 2021, up from 3%, 7,000 in 2011).

Ethnic group (6 categories)	Observation	% of total
White	147,025	53%
Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh	55,545	20%
Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African	41,647	15%
Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	17,983	6%
Other ethnic group	16,226	6%
Total	278,426	100%

Source: ONS, Census 2021, Waltham Forest

Country of birth and nationality

40% of the Waltham Forest’s residents were born outside of the UK. Census 2021 recorded a 159% rise in Romanian-born residents (11,000 or 4%) and 33% decrease in Polish-born residents (5,500 or 2%) since 2011. Nationally, the number of Romanian-born people has risen by 576%, driven by the lifting of working restrictions for Romanian nationals in 2014. Although this proportion is unchanged since 2011, Waltham Forest is now ranked 24th in England and Wales. 15% of the residents have arrived in the UK the last decade.  

According to the Census 2021, the top 10 countries of birth of the residents in Waltham Forest (with United Kingdom excluded) are as follows:

Waltham Forest – Top 10, Census 2021
Country of birth	Observation	%
England	166976	60.0%
Pakistan	11035	4.0%
Romania	11015	4.0%
Other EU countries	9654	3.5%
Rest of Europe: Other Europe	7092	2.5%
Poland	5486	2.0%
Turkey	3516	1.3%
India	3342	1.2%
Jamaica	3278	1.2%
All South American countries	3147	1.1%
Other South and Eastern Africa	3134	1.1%

Source: ONS, Census 2021, Waltham Forest

In 2021, 74.1% (206,000) of usual residents identified with at least one UK national identity (English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British, and Cornish). This is very similar to the rest of London (77.5%) but much lower than for England and Wales (90.3%).

Those who identify themselves with a non-UK identity accounted for 21.9% (58,000) of the borough population, decreased from 25% in 2011 (64,000).

People who identified with at least one UK and one non-UK identity are still a minority of 4% (11,000) however this has increased in the last decade from 2.3% (6,000).

According to the Census 2021, the top 10 nationalities of the residents in Waltham Forest (with United Kingdom excluded) are as follows:

 

Top 10 Waltham Forest - Census 2021
National identity (detailed)	Observation	%
Romanian	10435	3.7%
Other member of EU countries	7087	2.5%
Non-EU countries: Other European	5168	1.9%
Polish	4288	1.5%
Italian	2770	1.0%
Irish only identity	2679	1.0%
Pakistani	2665	1.0%
Lithuanian	2334	0.8%
Spanish (including Canary Islander)	2027	0.7%
Other identity only: European: EU countries	1937	0.7%

Source: ONS, Census 2021, Waltham Forest

Religion

The religion question was voluntary; 93% (19,500) of usual residents in Waltham Forest answered the question in 2021, a proportion that remained stable since 2011.

For the first time in a census of England and Wales, less than half of the population (46.2%, 27.5 million people) described themselves as “Christian”, a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3% (33.3 million) in 2011. A similar trend is recorded in Waltham Forest and although Christianity remains the main religion with 39% (109,000) of residents identifying themselves as Christian, a 9-percentage point decrease is recorded from 48% (125,000) in 2011. “No religion” was the second most common response, increasing by 10 percentage points to 28% (78,000) from 18% (46,500) in 2011.

The proportion of Muslim residents in the area remained unchanged since 2011 with almost a quarter of residents (22%, 60,000) identifying themselves as Muslims in 2021 (compared to 6.5% nationally).

London is the most religiously diverse region of England, with just over 25.3% of people reporting a religion other than Christianity. Waltham Forest records a similar to London’s average region diversity with 26% of the total population reporting a religion other than Christianity.

Waltham Forest – Census 2021
Religion	Observation	%
Christian	108630	39%
No religion	77739	28%
Muslim	60157	22%
Not answered	19548	7%
Hindu	5155	2%
Other religion	2810	1%
Buddhist	1834	1%
Sikh	1285	0%
Jewish	1268	0%
Total	278426	100%

Languages spoken in the borough

The top 10 languages spoken locally other than English are Romanian, Urdu, Bulgarian, Polish, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, Panjabi, Italian and Tamil.  

In Census 2021, about one in five residents aged three and over (22 per cent) do not speak English as their main language compared to 7 per cent nationally. The majority (95 per cent), however, can speak English well or very well. About 5 per cent of the borough's residents (13,134 people) have said that they do not speak English well or at all.

Table 3 Top 10 languages other than English spoken in Waltham Forest

Top 10 Waltham Forest - Census 2021
Main language (detailed), 3years and over	Observation	% of total
Romanian	10573	4.0%
Urdu	4786	1.8%
Bulgarian	4397	1.6%
Polish	4279	1.6%
Turkish	3460	1.3%
Spanish	2476	0.9%
Portuguese	2232	0.8%
Panjabi	2026	0.8%
Italian	1979	0.7%
Tamil	1819	0.7%

Source: 2021Census, Office for National Statistics

Self-reported health and disability

The 2021 Census asked people to rate their health as very good, good, fair, bad or very bad. The data shows that a total of 12,300 residents of Waltham Forest considered their health to be bad or very bad. This is equivalent to 6 per cent of the population, up from 5 per cent who said in the 2011 Census that they did not have a good health.

In addition, the 2011 census asked people if they had a health problem or disability that has lasted or was expected to last for at least 12 months and which limited the person’s day-to-day activities, either a little or a lot.

As many as 36,762 residents said in the census 2021 that their day-to-day activities are limited because of their health. This is made up of 6 per cent of population who said their day-to-day activities were limited a lot (15,933 people) and 7 per cent whose activities were limited a little (20,829). In total, this is 13 per cent of residents compared to 17 per cent nationally.

Health tends to deteriorate further with age with 42 per cent of population aged 65 and over (10,906) having a limiting long-term health problem or disability.

LGBT

The census 2021 question on sexual orientation was a voluntary question asked of those aged 16 years and over. It’s the first time the sexual orientation is asked as part of the Census and therefore comparison with last Census is not possible.

• 4.5% of the 16+population identified themselves as LGTBQ+

Waltham Forest’s sexual orientation breakdown of the population aged 16 years and over is following London’s average trends.

• 90.5% answered the sexual orientation question
• 9.5% did not answer the sexual orientation question
• Around 191,000 people (86%) identified as straight or heterosexual.
• Around 5,000 people (2.3%) identified as Gay or Lesbian
• Around 3,600 people (1.6%) identified as Bisexual
• Around 1,000 people (0.4%) identified as Pansexual
• Around 122 people (0.1%) identified as Asexual
• Around 200 people (0.1%) identified as Queer
• Around 100 people (0.1%) choose “ All other sexual orientations”
• The remaining 21,100 people (9.5%) did not answer the question

Brighton and Hove recorded the highest proportion (10.7%) people 16+ identified themselves as LGBTQ+ nationally. In London, City of London (10.4%) and Lambeth (8.3%) had the highest proportions of population identified as LGBTQ+.

Waltham Forest is ranked 31st nationally amongst LAs with high proportion of LBTQ+ population for people aged 16 years and over and 13th amongst London local authorities.

Local businesses

According to the 2022 UK Business Counts, Waltham Forest currently has a total of 12,235 businesses which are VAT and/or PAYE registered.

The largest industry group in the borough is construction (19.2% of the businesses), followed closely by professional, scientific and technical (15.7%) and retail (10.3%).

Of the top 5 industries, construction has a higher share of businesses in Waltham Forest (19.2%) than in London as a whole (11.5%). This is a similar picture for retail (10.3% compared to 8.7%).

A large majority (94.3%) of businesses in the borough are so-called micro-businesses with less than 10 employees. Further 5.1% are small businesses with 10-49 employees and only 1% of businesses employ more than 50 people.

35% of the businesses in Waltham Forest have a turnover between £100,000 and £249,000, followed by 25% with a turnover of £50,000-£99,0000 and 16% with a registered turnover of up to £49,000. This is in line with London's average picture on turnover breakdown.

According to FAME, there is a total 12,553 businesses that aren’t VAT and/or PAYE registered in the borough and therefore the total number of active businesses operating in the area is summarised to 24,778. Please note that Businesses in the UK need to register for VAT if their VAT taxable turnover is more than £85,000.

Deprivation

The English Indices of Deprivation 2019 (IoD 2019) replace and update the 2015 indices as the Government’s primary measure of deprivation published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Waltham Forest is relatively less deprived in 2019 compared to 2015, improving rank from the 35th most deprived local authority in England to the 82nd most deprived out of 317 local authorities.

In London, Waltham Forest now ranks 12th most deprived borough - an improvement from the 7th most deprived in 2015 - and is relatively less deprived in all seven deprivation domains.

Education

In Waltham Forest, there are currently 51 primary schools, 15 secondary schools, 30 children centres, 4 “16 plus”, 3 nurseries and 2 All-through. In total, there are 45,000 pupils in Waltham Forest. There are almost twice as many primary school students as there is secondary.

According to the Department for Education, Waltham Forest’s Key Stage 2 or SAT results (for pupils aged 7 to 11) in the academic year 2019, 72% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, whilst 15% reached a higher standard. Both are above the England average (65% and 11%), as well as the London average (71% and 14%).

For KS4 (GCSE), the Average Attainment 8 score of all pupils in Waltham Forest was 46.2. This is higher than the inner London score of 45.6, but lower than the outer London score of 50.4. This is relatively in line with the England average score of 46.8.

Of the 1,113 students entered English and Mathematics GCSEs, 42.7% achieved grade 5 or higher. This is slightly below the England average of 43.4.

For College students, the percentage of students achieving at least 2 substantial level 3 qualifications was 85.9% for England, but 76.3% for Waltham Forest. For those doing A-levels, the percentage of students achieving at least 2 A levels is 81.4% for England, whilst 76.2% for Waltham Forest.

According to the Annual Population Survey, there is an estimated 7,600 person in Waltham Forest who are aged 18-24 and engaging in full time education. This is in-line with London levels (37.1% compared to 38.8%).

Employment and unemployment

According to the ONS’s Annual Population Survey, the employment rate for the working-age population aged 16-64 in the 12 months to June 2022 was 74.3 per cent, close to the London average of 75.8 per cent. With over 145,000 residents in employment this is on par with the pre-pandemic rate of 73.6 per cent (March 2020). Proportionally, Waltham Forest has the 21st highest employment rate in London.

The Claimant Count is the stock of Universal Credit and Job Seekers Allowance claimants. Prior to Covid19, Waltham Forest had relatively low levels of universal credit claimants (3.3%), just slightly above the London average (0.4% difference in January 2020). Since then, the amount of claimants steadily rose to 10.6% (19,665 residents) but has now fallen down to 5.6% (September 2022) which is 0.8% higher than the London average (4.8%).

Claimant numbers show discrepancies across Waltham Forest wards, ranging from 7.9% in Lea Bridge to 3.8% in Chingford Green. Typically, those in the south of the borough are more likely to fall into unemployment than those living in the north, as the top 10 wards by claimant rate are all located below the North Circular Road.

Waltham Forest full-time workers currently have a median income of £36,000 (data as of 2021). This is not too dissimilar from the London average of £37,500 and places Waltham Forest 19th out of 32 London boroughs (City of London excluded), an increase of 2 standings since 2020. Working residents benefit from a higher income of nearly £4,500 than their counterparts in England (average of £31,500). Compared to ten years ago, income in Waltham Forest has grown by £9,000 (34%) in nominal terms.

Housing

According to the Annual Population Survey, home ownership levels have been steadily increasing over the past decade. 38.4% (~38,600) of households are bought through a mortgage (higher than the London average of 28.3%), with 23% (~23,200) being owned outright (in-line with London at 24.4%).

An estimated 19.2% of households are rented from the Local Authority or a housing association. As of July 2020, Waltham Forest had a total of 8,250 households on the Housing Register.

On average, residents could expect to pay an estimated 14 times their annual earnings on purchasing a home in Waltham Forest. The ratio of average house prices to average earnings more than doubled from 5.69 to 13.61 between 2002 and 2018. This now makes housing in Waltham Forest less affordable than in London as a whole, which has created a pressing need for affordable housing for people who wish to live independently, living in overcrowded conditions and the homeless.

Property prices are rising rapidly across London, and Waltham Forest is quoted as one of the boroughs with the fastest rising prices. From 2013 to 2018, the average price of a house almost doubled, increasing from £245,400 to £450,000, a rise of 83 per cent. Since then, house prices have remained relatively stagnant.

Over the next 10 years, there is an estimated 20,788 homes being built across Waltham Forest. After 2024, the amount of homes being built ramps up considerably.

The level of development is not evenly distributed across the borough. Most development is centred around the South and Central areas of the borough. Lea Bridge and Leyton have the highest levels of development, accounting for over a quarter (5,962) of new homes in the next ten years. Other wards of high levels of development include Forest, Markhouse, and William Morris.

Crime

From January 2020 to December 2020, a total of 23,515 crimes were recorded by the Metropolitan Police in Waltham Forest, a decrease of 3 per cent on the year before.

The top three types of crimes in Waltham Forest in the year up to and including December 2020 were:

• Violence Against the Person (28% of all crime)
• Theft (20%)
• Vehicle Offences (16%).

The borough’s monthly crime rate from January 2020 to December 2020 was 7.1 per 1,000 people, this is in line with the London average (7.1 per 1,000 people).

According to the Metropolitan Police Service Public Attitude Survey from September 2020, 52 per cent of residents agreed that the police do a good job in the local area. This is up 2 per cent on June 2020.

The latest crime statistics are on Metropolitan Police crime data dashboard.

Other Data Sources

There are many publicly available data sources which cover demographic, social and economic trends in Waltham Forest and can be used to compare our borough to other areas.

This following list and links are not exhaustive, but many key statistics not covered on this page can be found at the following websites.

London Datastore - The Greater London Authority website dedicated to research and analysis specific to London.

NOMIS - Nomis is a service provided by the ONS, giving detailed and up-to-date access to UK labour market statistics and Census statistics. Includes labour market profile for Waltham Forest, and easily downloadable data on population, employment, qualifications, earnings, benefit claimants and businesses.

GOV.UK Statistics - Official statistics published by the UK government. Search by government department on by key word. 

Public Health England Data Portal - A single point of access to data and analysis tools from across Public Health England. This includes general health profile for Waltham Forest, specific mental health and learning disability profiles, and information on lifestyle risk factors,  disease prevalence and wider determinants of health.

Fingertips (Public Health England) - These profiles are a rich source of indicators across a range of health and wellbeing themes that has been designed to support JSNA and commissioning to improve health and wellbeing, and reduce inequalities.

Children's Local Area Interactive Tool - An interactive spreadsheet for comparing data about children and young people across all local authorities in England. 

Health and Social Care Intelligence Centre - The national provider of information, data and IT systems for health and social care. Includes data tool in NASCIS (National Adult Social Care Intelligence Service).

London's Poverty Profile - London's Poverty Profile uses official data to reveal patterns in poverty and inequality.