Two parts of Norfolk were among just a handful of areas in England and Wales which saw a population drop in the space of a year, new figures have revealed.
Experimental data shows that, in the year to June 2022, the population in the north Norfolk and Great Yarmouth district council areas fell, at a time when the population of England and Wales increased.
Newly-released statistics showed that, in north Norfolk, the population fell by 0.28pc, from an estimated 103,249 in mid-2021 to 102,962 in mid-2022. That was a drop of 287.
And in Great Yarmouth, there was a 0.13pc fall, dropping from 100,123 in mid-2021 to 99,991 in mid-2022. That meant 132 fewer people were living in the seaside town.
They were two of just 15 areas which saw a fall in population over that period, with the total population for England and Wales estimated to have passed 60m for the first time, rising from 59.6m in mid-2021 to 60.2 million in mid-2022.
Other areas where the population fell were South Kesteven (Lincolnshire), Lewes, Warrington, Isle of Wight, Torbay, Fareham, Conwy, Scarborough, Hastings, Boston, Ipswich, Lincoln and South Staffordshire.
Experts believe part of the reason for the drop in the Norfolk locations is that people who had temporarily left towns and cities for rural areas during the Covid-19 pandemic returned to their homes.
It is also possible that the high number of second homes in North Norfolk, coupled with its ageing population, led to the drop.
The biggest increase in Norfolk was in south Norfolk, with an estimated 1.39pc increase, up from 142,527 in mid-2021 to 144,510 in mid-2022. That equated to an extra 1,983 people living in the district.
There was an estimated 1.21pc increase in Broadland, with 1,595 more people in the district, up from 132,247 in mid-2021, compared to 133,842 in mid-2022.
Norwich's population was up by 0.43pc, with the extra 614 people contributing to the mid-2022 figure of 143,724, compared to 143,110 in mid-2021.
The population in Breckland increased by 0.1pc. It was up from 142,183 in mid-2021 to 142,320 in mid-2022, an increase of 136 people.
King's Lynn and west Norfolk saw a 0.78pc increase. The addition of 1,214 people increased the district's population from 154,873 in mid-2021 to 156,088 in mid-2022.
The provisional figures have been published by the Office for National Statistics and are based on a new method for calculating the population, meaning they cannot be compared with other measures such as the 2021 census.
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