Cumbria's working-age population grows for fifth consecutive year

Cumbria's working-age population has increased for the fifth consecutive year, while the county's overall population grew faster than England between 2024 and 2025, according to the latest Office for National Statistics estimates.

The data also shows the number of residents aged 18 to 24 increased between 2024 and 2025, the first annual increase since 2012, with 590 more young adults living in Cumbria than in 2024.

The new figures show Cumbria’s population was estimated at 513,650 in 2025, an increase of 3,815 people over the previous year, representing annual growth of 0.7%, compared with England’s growth rate of 0.4%.

The number of residents aged 16 to 64 increased by 1,481 people to 302,638, marking the fifth consecutive year of growth in the county’s working-age population. The 0.5% increase was also above the 0.3% growth recorded in England.

Migration continues to be the main driver of Cumbria’s population growth, helping to offset the impact of more deaths than births. In 2025, net migration added 5,829 people to Cumbria’s population.

John Barradell OBE, Interim Chief Executive of Cumbria Combined Authority, said: "These are encouraging figures. For many years, attracting and keeping working-age people in Cumbria has been a challenge, so seeing that population grow for the fifth year running is good news.

“It is particularly encouraging to see more 18 to 24-year-olds living here for the first time since 2012. We want Cumbria to be somewhere people can build a career, find a good job and make a life, and we have a lot to offer.

“There are still challenges. Our population remains older than the England average and we need more people of working age living and working here. But these figures show things are moving in the right direction, and we need to build on that.”

Cumbria still has an older population than England as a whole. The median age is 47.9, compared with 40.6 nationally, and more than a quarter of the county’s population is aged 65 and over.

The figures also show that growth in Cumbria's working-age population is exceeding the levels anticipated in the latest national population projections. The accompanying briefing notes that those projections may need to be treated with caution if recent migration and population trends continue.