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Wealden District Council > Tourism and Wellbeing > Wealden Facts and Figures

Wealden Facts and Figures

Wealden has an area size of 835km2 stretching from the north of Crowborough to the South Coast. This puts Wealden as the 46th largest local authority district out of the 309 in England.   The main towns in Wealden are: Crowborough, Uckfield, Heathfield, Hailsham and Polegate and there are many villages and hamlets. Wealden enjoys some of the most unspoilt countryside in South East: the Ashdown Forest, the High Weald, parts of the South Downs, the Seven Sister cliffs and Pevensey Levels. It is home to 160,000 people and has a vibrant local economy driven by small businesses. 
Within Wealden, 3,205 hectares (32km2) of Ashdown Forest is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA). Additionally, 3,585 (36km2) of the Pevensey Levels in the north east of the district is protected by its Special Area of Conservation (SAC) status. In total there are 41 conservation areas within Wealden, with 8 of these being located within and managed by the South Downs National Park Authority.  

At the time of the latest Census (2021) the population of Wealden was 160,100. This is a 7.5% increase from 2011 when the total population was 148,915. This is a higher percentage growth than the England average which was at 6.6% for the same period. Wealden ranks 126th for total population out of 309 local authority areas and has a population density of around one person for every football pitch-sized area of land. 

Just over 29% of the 545,800 people who live in East Sussex live in Wealden. Since 2011, Wealden has had a population percentage growth over double that of any of the other neighbouring authorities in the County.  

15.4% of Wealden’s population are children aged under 15, and 58% are people aged 15-64. 26.5% of Wealden’s population is aged 65 and over with 3.6% of those being over 84 years old. The largest age group in Wealden are those aged 55-59 with 12,700 people, or 7.94% of Wealden’s population. The largest age group in England is the 30-34 age group (7%).  

There has been a 24% increase in the number of usual residents aged 65 and over since 2011 in Wealden. This is above the national average of 20%. There has been no significant increase in the number of children aged 15 and under since 2011. This is below the national average of 5%.  

Of the 160,100 people in Wealden, 83,000 were women (51.8%), 77,100 were men (48.2%). This male-female split is exactly as it was in 2011. In the years from Census Day 2011, the female population of Wealden has grown by 8%, and the male population of Wealden has grown by 7%.  

Around 68,300 households were counted for Wealden in the 2021 Census this is an increase of 8.9% from the 62,700 households recorded in 2011.  

In the twelve months prior to December 2021, Wealden’s employment rate of people aged 16-64 was 81.6%. The unemployment rate, described as the number of unemployed people divided by the economically active population, was 1.5%. Economically inactive rates consist of people aged 16 and over without a job who have not sought work in the last four weeks and/or are not available to start work in the next two weeks. In Wealden, 17.1% of adults aged 16-64 were categorised as economically inactive in the 2021 calendar year. 

Ward Profiles

The Policy Team have produced profiles for the 41 Wealden District wards. They contain statistical data for all of the electoral wards in Wealden enabling you to compare data from one ward to another.

They are designed to provide an overview of local data on a wide variety of topics including population, housing, income, education and transport.

These Ward Profiles include data taken from a wide range of sources, both commercial and public sector open data and administrative.