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Key points on Suffolk's population with sources to JSNA products

Suffolk's population

The population of Suffolk from the 2021 census was 760,688. Suffolk’s population is estimated to increase by 8.6% from 2021 to 826,470 in 2043 (source: Population Dashboard - Suffolk Summary).

Population breakdown

Suffolk has an older population compared to the rest of England. From the 2021 census:

17.1% of the Suffolk population were aged 15 years and under
59.3% of the Suffolk population were working aged (aged 16 to 64 years)
23.6% (179,000) of the Suffolk population were aged 65 years and over (5.2% percentage points higher than England) (source: Population Dashboard - Suffolk Summary)

Deprivation

Suffolk ranked 53 out of 151 local authorities in the 2019 Indices of Multiple Deprivation (where 1 is the least deprived).

11.3% (22) of Suffolk’s small areas lower super output areas (LSOAs) are within the most deprived 20% of areas in England
12 of these LSOAs were in Lowestoft, and 10 were in Ipswich (source: Suffolk Observatory)

Disability

17.3% of the Suffolk population in 2021 was disabled under the Equality Act, with day-to-day activities either limited a lot, or a little, below the England percentage of 17.7% (source: Health Dashboard – Suffolk Summary).

Life Expectancy

Females in Suffolk between 2018-20 had a life expectancy at birth of 84.1 years, 1.0 year higher than the England female average.

Males in Suffolk had a life expectancy at birth of 80.7 years, 1.3 years higher than the England male average (source: Health Dashboard – Suffolk Summary).

Healthy life expectancy

Healthy life expectancy differs from life expectancy – it is the number of years an individual is expected to live in good health.

Between 2018-20, females in Suffolk had a healthy life expectancy of 64.4 years, statistically similar to the England average of 63.9 years for females.

Also between 2018-20, males in Suffolk had a healthy life expectancy of 67.0 years, statistically significantly higher than the England male average of 63.1 years (source: Health Dashboard – Suffolk Summary).

Ethnic groups

87.3% of the Suffolk population in the 2021 census were White British, 13.8 percentage points higher than the England average of 73.5% (source: Population Dashboard - Suffolk Summary).

Other ethnic groups

Suffolk’s other ethnic groups from the 2021 census were as follows: 2.3% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups, 2.3% Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh, 1.3% Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African, 0.9% Other ethnic group (source: Population Dashboard - Suffolk Summary).

Smoking

In Suffolk in 2021/22, 15.6% (107,385) of individuals aged 15 years and above were current smokers. (source: Health Dashboard – Suffolk Summary)

Adult excess weight

Almost two in three (65.5%) of Suffolk’s adult population (aged 18 and over) in 2021/22 were classified as overweight or obese. (source: Health Dashboard – Suffolk Summary)

Childhood excess weight

While statistically significantly lower than the England average (37.8%), over one in three Suffolk Year 6 pupils (10/11 year olds) in 2021/22 were classified as overweight (including obesity). (source: Health Dashboard – Suffolk Summary)

Cancer

Between 2015-19, there were 24,599 cases of all cancer types in Suffolk. The standardised incidence ratio for Suffolk (96.0) means there were fewer cases of cancer than expected during this period, compared to the England average (100.0). (source: Fingertips: Cancer Incidence)

Cardiovascular disease

In Suffolk in 2021, 466 people under the age of 75 died from cardiovascular disease. The Suffolk age standardised rate of under 75 cardiovascular disease mortality (60.3 per 100,000) was statistically significantly lower than the England rate of 76.0 per 100,000. (source: Fingertips: Cardiovascular Disease)

Respiratory disease

In 2021, 127 people in Suffolk under the age of 75 died from respiratory disease. The age standardised rate for Suffolk of 16.3 per 100,000 was also statistically significantly lower than the England rate of 26.5 per 100,000. (source: Fingertips: Respiratory Disease)

Mental Health

13.2% (87,435 adults) in Suffolk have a diagnosis of depression (according to practice disease registers in 2021/22.
0.9% or 7,365 patients had a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or other psychoses in the same period.

This shows the significant number of Suffolk residents affected by mental health conditions. (source: Fingertips Mental Health and Wellbeing JSNA).

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Suffolk's population

Population breakdown

Deprivation

Life Expectancy

Ethnicity

Risk factors

Disease

Mental Health