Satanism and Jedis in census poll

The data shows there were 422,458 people living in Kirklees on Census day – March 27 2011 – and there were more women (213,801) than men (208,657). In the 2001 Census there were 388,571 people – 186,623 men and 196,430 women.

This works out as almost a nine per cent increase – higher than the seven per cent increase for the whole of England and Wales.

But Kirklees sticks to a big national trend with fewer people identifying themselves as Christian now than in 2001. There were 225,751 Christian people – 53.4 per cent of all Kirklees residents – down from 261,128 in the 2001 Census.

The second biggest religion was Muslim, with 61,280 people (14.5 per cent) in the Kirklees borough. There were 39,312 Muslim people in Kirklees according to the 2001 Census.

It seems the institution of marriage is alive and well in our district. Out of the five local authorities that make up West Yorkshire, Kirklees is home to the highest percentage of people who were married with 48.4 per cent. But there’s still hope for those still looking for love as 109,072 people’s marital status was single. There were 809 people in same-sex civil partnerships in our district.

There were 2,707 Kirklees residents age 90 or over and the average age was 38.4, older than the West Yorkshire average of 38, but younger than the average for England and Wales at 39.

The percentage of people who were divorced in Kirklees was 9.3 per cent – slightly above the West Yorkshire figure of 9.1 per cent – but still lower than Wakefield and Calderdale’s 10.5 per cent.

There were 14,465 unemployed people and 13,504 long-term sick or disabled. Some 2,672 had never worked and 5,850 were classed as long-term unemployed. A further 44,027 were retired, and there were 17,593 students.

The biggest industries in Kirklees were manufacturing (28,916 employees), general wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles (33,594 employees) and education (20,326).

Guy Goodwin, ONS director of census, said: “These statistics paint a picture of society and help us all plan for the future using accurate information at a local level.”