All the data

Fifteen years on the island

Population, ONS mid-year estimates — the same series UK Stat Pack charts.

211,475

Population

Up 2.9% since 2011; England up 10.8%

ONS · Mid-2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

5,236per km²

Population density

England 451 per km² — roughly twelve times denser; only Luton is denser outside London

ONS · Mid-2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

36.9years

Median age

2nd youngest of Hampshire's 13 authorities (Southampton 34.8, New Forest 52.9)

ONS · Mid-2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

2nd largest of 13

Size among Hampshire's 13 authorities

Only Southampton (259,230) is larger

ONS · Mid-2025

Average price by type

UK House Price Index, July 2026.

11%

Homes delivered vs required, Housing Delivery Test

Any council below 45% loses the presumption against unwanted development. Portsmouth is at 11%.

MHCLG · Housing Delivery Test, 2025 measurement

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

3,158

Licensed houses in multiple occupation on the council register

Planning policy tests each new application against a 10% threshold within 50 metres — a decision rule, not a cap on the total.

Portsmouth City Council · council licensing register, August 2026

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

£251,220

Average house price

+1.3% on a year earlier

Recent months are revised as more sales are registered.

HM Land Registry · July 2026

+1.3%

House prices, change on a year earlier

HM Land Registry · July 2026

£260,000

Median house price paid

A median of actual sales; the UK HPI average is mix-adjusted, so the two differ.

ONS · Year ending March 2026

7.2

Housing affordability ratio

ONS · Year ending March 2026 prices ÷ 2025 earnings

£1,368

Average private rent

+2.4% on a year earlier

ONS · August 2026

+2.4%

Private rents, change on a year earlier

ONS · Year to August 2026

£36,022

Median gross annual pay, full-time residents

Jobs located in Portsmouth pay £38,815 — England residents £39,243

ONS ASHE · resident median full-time pay, 2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

7.7%

Public administration and defence share of employee jobs

Across England the same sector accounts for 4.5% of employee jobs, so Portsmouth's share is nearly double.

ONS BRES · of employee jobs, 2024

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

6,455

People claiming unemployment-related benefits

Not a measure of unemployment: some claimants are in low-paid work.

ONS / DWP · August 2026

4.5%

Claimant rate

ONS / DWP · August 2026

77.8%

Employment rate, 16–64

Survey-based; local estimates carry wide confidence intervals.

ONS · April 2025 to March 2026

£38,815

Median full-time pay for jobs in Portsmouth

ONS · 2025 (provisional)

3.55%

Pupils missing 50%+ of sessions

England 2.39%

Department for Education · 2024/25

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

42.9%

New EHC plans issued within 20 weeks

England 45.5% — now almost level

Department for Education · 2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

35.2%

Pupils achieving grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE

England reached 45.4% and Southampton 38.9%, so Portsmouth trails its closest comparable city by 3.7 percentage points.

DfE · 2024/25 GCSE cohort

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

7.17%

Pupils on a school roll holding an Education, Health and Care plan

Southampton is at 6.72% and England at 6.04%. Portsmouth sat below Southampton for six years and overtook it this year.

DfE · January 2026

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

5.5%

16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training

England stands at 3.4%. The widely-quoted Portsmouth figure of 11.5% adds in a further 6.05% of young people whose destination is simply not known.

DfE · 2026

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

491

Pupils on roll against capacity, UTC Portsmouth

The school is approved for 600 places, so roughly one place in six is unfilled.

Ofsted · pupils on roll

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

20.6%

Pupils persistently absent

A newer 2024/25 figure may be published; check before relying on it.

DfE · 2023/24

Adults seeing an NHS dentist

Seen in the previous 24 months, to March each year. Dashed line: England.

Preventable deaths under 75

Per 100,000, three-year pooled. Dashed: England, latest period.

192.1

Under-75 deaths from preventable causes, age-standardised

England 151.2 — Portsmouth worse in every period on record

OHID · per 100,000, 2022–24

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

30.2%

Adults seen by an NHS dentist in 24 months

England 40.0% — a 10-point gap

NHS BSA · seen in 24 months, to March 2026

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

40.0%

Adults seen by an NHS dentist — England

NHS BSA publishes the England figure only as "40%"; this is derived from its own local-authority tables, a method that reproduces every earlier year exactly.

NHS Business Services Authority · 24 months to March 2026

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

50.2%

Children seen by an NHS dentist

England 60.0%

NHS Business Services Authority · 12 months to March 2026

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

77.8years

Life expectancy at birth, men

England 80.0

OHID · 2025

81.9years

Life expectancy at birth, women

England 83.8

OHID · 2025

198.3per 100,000

Preventable deaths under 75, single year

England 145.8

Single-year rates are noisier than the pooled three-year figure (health.preventable_u75) used for trends.

OHID · 2024

35.2%

Adults seen by an NHS dentist — Hampshire and Isle of Wight

England 40.0%

ICB percentages use mid-2024 populations; the local-authority figure uses mid-2025.

NHS Business Services Authority · 24 months to March 2026

Fly-tipping incidents

Recorded by the council and returned to Defra. The latest fall came while England rose 9.1%.

The full fly-tipping story →

937 incidents

Recorded fly-tipping incidents

Incidents of fly-tipping in Portsmouth have fallen by 14.2%, while incidents across England have risen by 9.1%.

Defra · 2024/25

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

Poor

Bathing water classification

Eastney, the other Southsea site, is rated Good

Environment Agency · Southsea East, 2025 classification

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

12 µg/m³

NO2 annual mean

Down from 27 in 2001; zero streets in breach at the Jan 2026 assessment

Defra UK-AIR · NO2, urban background, 2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

11.9m journeys

Local bus passenger journeys

Above the 11.0m of 2019 — England is still ~10% below

DfT · year to March 2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

-1.4%

Police-recorded crime, all offences, year-on-year change

Sexual offences fell 5% over the same period. Knife crime is published only for the whole Hampshire force, where it was flat.

ONS Police Force Area data tables, year ending March 2026 (Tables C3, C4) · year to March 2026 against year to March 2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

16.4%

Vacant retail units, city centre

Southsea Centre, by contrast, is 10.2% vacant against a national average of 14.0%.

Portsmouth City Council · Retail Study Update 2024

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

5.2%

Residents in employment cycling to work

Across England, 2.1% of workers cycle to work — Portsmouth is two and a half times that rate.

ONS / Portsmouth City Council LCWIP · Census 2021

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

733

Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support

Of those 733 people, 656 were in dispersal accommodation rather than hotels.

Portsmouth City Council / Home Office · receiving support, September 2024

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

Good

Bathing water classification — Eastney

Environment Agency · 2025 classification

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

112.7per 1,000 people

Recorded crime rate

England 83.4 · 2nd highest of 12 Hampshire Constabulary partnership areas (Southampton 120.1, East Hampshire 43.4 lowest, median 57.0)

24,163 offences; ONS rates use mid-2024 population (214,300). 3,316 Hampshire offences were not allocated to any area.

ONS · Year ending March 2026

19µg/m³

Nitrogen dioxide, roadside

31 in 2018; legal limit 40

Defra UK-AIR / Portsmouth City Council · 2025

~60p in every £1

Share of service budget on adult and children's social care

Children's services and adult social care combined

Portsmouth City Council budget reports · 2025/26 service budgets

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

£22.3m

General fund working balance

Against a minimum of £12m

Portsmouth City Council · 2026/27 forecast

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

Decision withdrawn

Local government reorganisation status

Was to merge with Gosport, Fareham and Havant

MHCLG · 7 Sept 2026 · programme under government review

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

31%

Children in relative low income, after housing costs

Portsmouth South 35.5%, Portsmouth North 27.1%; UK 26.0%

City figure combines DWP's two published constituency figures (Financial year ending 2025, published 26 March 2026).

DWP · Financial year ending 2025

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

£1,908

Band D council tax

MHCLG · 2026-27

LD 23 · Reform 12 · Con 3 · Lab 3 · Ind 1

Seats on Portsmouth City Council

Election result 8 May 2026 was LD 22, Reform 12, Lab 4, Con 3, Ind 1; later changes to be verified against the council's councillor list.

Portsmouth City Council · After changes to July 2026

12%

Neighbourhoods among England's most deprived 10%

MHCLG · Indices of Deprivation 2025

Amanda Martin

MP for Portsmouth North

Labour

UK Parliament · Current

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

Stephen Morgan

MP for Portsmouth South

Labour

UK Parliament · Current

Full write-up on UK Stat Pack →

Longlisted

UK City of Culture 2029 bid

DCMS / Portsmouth Creates · Shortlist due autumn 2026; winner January 2027

Flood warnings near Portsmouth

…

Environment Agency flood-monitoring API

Bathing water pollution forecast

Environment Agency bathing water API · forecasts run May to September