The Tees Valley is an economic region and strategic authority area in the North East of England. It had a population of approximately 678,000 as of official 2024 estimates.
Demographic data for the region is fragmented due to the history of its statistical geography. The Teesside urban area centred on Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees has undergone several changes to local government boundaries. These changes have subsequently altered the definition of the economic region for statistical purposes. The Teesside area was in a single non-metropolitan county between 1974 and 1998, but this excluded Darlington, which is now in the Tees Valley.
Data fragmentation
Demographic data for the Tees Valley or Teesside metropolitan area of England is recorded with differing definitions. The area's fragmented data into different area definitions every other census after 1971 has meant a lack of clear lineal correlation analysis and anachronistic data.
The first recording of the multiple towns in the area with combined statistics was the 1971 census, during the 1968–1974 borough of Teesside's existence. By the 1981 and 1991 censuses the borough had been split into three (Middlesbrough, Stockton-On-Tees and what is now known as Redcar and Cleveland) with the additional Borough of Hartlepool to form the County of Cleveland for the combined statistical data of the area. For the 2001 and 2011 Censuses, the county had been abolished with an area recorded (between the size of the Teesside borough and the three replacement boroughs) as an urban area and built-up area respectively. The former county's four boroughs and the Borough of Darlington are now recorded as the Tees Valley Combined Authority mayoral area which was created in 2016 with its first census in 2021.
Population
Modern This is using reliable and government given statistics, both as combined data and broken down to Unitary Area divisions. +Population Change of Tees ValleyCensus yearTotal PopulationPopulation IncreaseMiddlesbroughStockton-On-TeesRedcar and ClevelandDarlingtonHartlepool%ActualTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% Change1981 - (No Combined Data) - -150,600 -173,900 -150,900 -98,600 -94,900 -1991 - (No Combined Data) - -144,700 -3.92175,200 0.75145,900 -3.3199,300 0.7191,100 -42001 652,200 - -141,200 -2.42183,800 4.91139,200 -4.5997,900 -1.4190,200 -0.992011663,000 1.66 10,800138,400 -1.98191,800 4.35135,200 -2.87105,6007.8792,1002.112021678,400 2.3215,400143,000 3.32197,000 2.71136,6001.04108,2002.4692,6000.54
Historical The following information cannot be easily compared to the modern data, due to the fact that the administrative areas of the modern districts do not fully map to that of historical land divisions, meaning the population estimates for before 1981 must be taken with this context.
The University of Portsmouth mapped out historic data from 1801 to 1911, using modern Unitary Area land divisions to try and create estimates for what the population for each borough was like. The created estimates cannot be described as accurate, but use the non profit organisation UK Data Service's collection of sources, specifically the GBHDB. +University of Portsmouth Population EstimatesYearTotal PopulationPopulation IncreaseMiddlesbroughStockton-On-TeesRedcar and ClevelandDarlingtonHartlepool%ActualTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% Change 1801 27,506 - - 1,699 - 7,121 - 6,516 - 8,836 - 3,334 - 181128,6314.091,125 1,735 2.12 7,372 3.52 6,714 3.04 9,356 5.89 3,454 3.6 182131,85811.273,227 1,963 13.14 8,333 13.04 7,190 7.09 10,470 11.91 3,902 12.97 1831 37,405 17.41 5,547 2,132 8.619,975 19.77,228 0.5313,379 27.784,691 20.22184148,99830.9911,5932,786 30.6815,929 59.696,907 -4.4415,801 18.17,575 61.48185158,91020.239,9123,334 19.6721,026 327,995 15.7516,508 4.4710,047 32.63186196,18163.2737,2714,233 26.9627,953 32.9414,474 81.0420,333 23.1729,188 190.511871 - - - - - - - - - - - - -1881277,991 - -61,556 -65,017 -58,107 -44,713 -48,598 -1891337,31321.3459,32281,711 32.7480,665 24.0761,303 5.547,047 5.2266,587 37.021901 - - - - - - - - - - - - -1911444,803 - -114,417 -91,582 -84,838 -66,038 -87,928 -1921493,22510.8948,422129,376 13.07102,508 11.9393,120 9.7674,899 13.4293,322 6.131931519,2455.2826,020137,810 6.52115,979 13.1492,389 -0.7980,342 7.2792,725 -0.641941 - - - - - - - - - - - - -1951568,536 - -147,034 -130,191 -103,907 -94,759 -92,645 -1961621,6959.3553,159161,778 10.03146,975 12.89120,500 15.9794,947 0.297,495 5.241971665,2557.0143,56099,606 -38.43180,909 23.09189,741 57.4697,702 2.997,297 -0.21981657,988 -1.09 -7,267147,418 48171,165 -5.39149,857 -21.0295,622 -2.1393,926 -3.461991649,183 -1.34 -8,805140,857 -4.45173,900 1.6145,119 -3.1698,912 3.4490,395 -3.762001638,847 -1.59 -10,336134,832 -4.28178,447 2.61139,125 -4.1397,817 -1.1188,626 -1.962011662,7913.7523,944138,4122.66191,610 7.38135,177 -2.84105,5647.9292,0283.84 The 1911 Preliminary Census Report, was a short summary of the changes in populations of the UK. In the section for towns, the settlements of Middlesbrough, Stockton, and Darlington are mentioned with details about their overall population change. +1911 Preliminary Census ReportYearTotal PopulationPopulation IncreaseMiddlesbroughStockton-On-TeesRedcar and ClevelandDarlingtonHartlepool%ActualTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% ChangeTotal% Change 1891 - - - 75,532 - 49,708 - - - 38,060 - - - 1901 - - - 91,302 +20.9 51,478 +3.6 - - 44,511 +16.9 - - 1911 - - - 104,787 +14.8 52,158 +1.3 - - 55,633 +25.0 - -
Economy YearEmployment Rate (%)Unemployment Rate (%)GDP/Head at Current Market PricesInward FDI (£ Millions)Tees ValleyAvg. CATees ValleyAvg. CATees ValleyAvg. CATees ValleyAvg. CA2000 - - - -£14,178£15,121 - -2001 - - - -£14,432£15,949 - -2002 - - - -£15,148£16,776 - -2003 - - - -£16,194£17,512 - -200468.369.432.227.5£17,203£18,653 - -200568.670.030.727.4£17,703£19,447 - -200668.969.16.16.5£18.493£20,080 - -200768.169.97.05.9£19,028£20,616 - -200866.468.88.37.3£19.569£20,829 - -200965.066.710.09.7£19,404£20,139 - -201065.166.910.79.2£19.661£20,828 - -201163.265.812.29.8£20.091£21,424 - -201264.266.712.89.7£20,339£21,927 - -201366.567.310.79.5£20,715£22,333 - -201467.069.110.08.0£21,540£23,098 - -201568.870.68.46.8£22,588£23,912£4,423£12,589201668.970.56.46.2£22,745£24,897£4,587£14,327201768.671.56.85.3£22,674£25,773£9,740£14,058201868.472.57.14.5£23,191£26,251£9.882£13,543201968.772.5 6.44.9£23,676£26,809£8,725£14,926202070.172.5 6.05.5£22,607£24,822£6,006£19,158202169.572.0 5.16.6£24,222£27,221£5,549£19,607202271.072.9 4.24.4£25,910£29,646 - -202372.372.5 4.84.0 - - - - Religion, Language and Identity
Religion The religious statistics for 2021 for the Tees Valley Combined Authority, were released in the December 2022 statistics. For the area, the largest recorded group were Christian (50.7%), followed by None Religious (39.0%), the third largest was No Answer (5.2%), those identifying as Muslim came fourth (3.8%). The rest of the categories were all less than 1%, and so approximations of their total size may be inaccurate due to accuracy loss. Those identifying as Hindu were the fifth largest (0.5%), followed by equal percentages for Buddhist, Sikh and 'Other Religion'. Those identifying as Jewish recorded less than 0.1%, so the recorded number is unknown. +2021 Religious DataReligionTees Valley CA (Approximate)England %Capita%No religion264,10839.036.7Christian343,34050.746.3Buddhist2,0320.30.5Hindu3,3860.51.8Jewish -0.00.5Muslim25,7343.86.7Sikh2,0320.30.9Other religion2,0320.30.6Not answered35,2145.26.0
Language +2021 Proficiency in English (Of those above 3 years old)CategoryTees Valley CAEnglandMain language is English96.4%90.8%Can speak English very well1.4%4%Can speak English well1.3%3.3%Cannot speak English well0.8%1.6%Cannot speak English0.1%0.3%
Ethnicity and Identity +2021 Ethnicity of Tees ValleyCategoryTees Valley CAEnglandAsian, Asian British or Asian Welsh4.4%9.6%Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African1.1%4.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups1.3%3%White92.1%81%Other ethnic group1.1%2.2% +Ethnicity Break DownAreaCategory20112021Number%Number%Tees Valley CATotal663,000100678,400100Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh - -29,8494.4Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African - -7,4621.1Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups - -8,8191.3White - -624,80692.1Other ethnic group - -7,4621.1MiddlesbroughTotal138,400100143,000100Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh10,7957.815,01510.5Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African1,7991.338612.7Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups23531.730032.1White122,06988.211783282.4Other ethnic group15221.134322.4Stockton-On-TeesTotal191,800100197,000100Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh67133.590624.6Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African11510.621671.1Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups19181.027581.4White181,44394.6181,24092.0Other ethnic group5750.315760.8Redcar and ClevelandTotal135,200100136,600100Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh8110.610930.8Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African1350.12730.2Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups8110.612290.9White13317298.5133,45897.7Other ethnic group1350.15460.4DarlingtonTotal105,600100108,200100Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh22182.130302.8Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African3170.37570.7Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups11621.115151.4White101,58796.2102,14194.4Other ethnic group2110.29740.9HartlepoolTotal92,10010092,600100Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh12891.415741.7Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African1840.24630.5Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups5530.66480.7White89,98297.789,35996.5Other ethnic group920.15560.6 +National IdentityCategoryTees Valley CAEnglandOne or more UK identity only95.5%88%UK identity and non-UK identity0.7%2%Non-UK identity only3.9%10% +National Identity BreakdownYearCategory20112021Number%Number%Tees Valley CATotal663,000100678,400100One or more UK identity only - -64787295.5UK identity and non-UK identity - -4748.80.7Non-UK identity only - -26457.63.9MiddlesbroughTotal138,400100143,000100British only identity20344.814.78208257.4Welsh only identity1380.11430.1Welsh and British only identity -0.0 -0.0English only identity9605069.42044914.3English and British only identity131489.52674118.7Any other combination of only UK identities1384110010.7Non-UK identity only66434.8112977.9UK identity and non-UK identity5540.412870.9Stockton-On-TeesTotal191,800100197,000100British only identity2704414.111741259.6Welsh only identity3840.21970.1Welsh and British only identity -0.01970.1English only identity13694571.43191416.2English and British only identity1994710.43802119.3Any other combination of only UK identities24931.317730.9Non-UK identity only42202.261073.1UK identity and non-UK identity5750.313790.7Redcar and ClevelandTotal135,200100136,600100British only identity1703512.67963858.3Welsh only identity2700.21370.1Welsh and British only identity -0.01370.1English only identity10045474.32540818.6English and British only identity1419610.52759320.2Any other combination of only UK identities17581.312290.9Non-UK identity only12170.920491.5UK identity and non-UK identity2700.25460.4DarlingtonTotal105,600100108,200100British only identity1552314.76308158.3Welsh only identity3170.31080.1Welsh and British only identity1060.11080.1English only identity7339269.51796116.6English and British only identity1077110.21947618Any other combination of only UK identities21122.016231.5Non-UK identity only30622.948694.5UK identity and non-UK identity3170.39740.9HartlepoolTotal92,10010092,600100British only identity1031511.25315257.4Welsh only identity920.1930.1Welsh and British only identity -0.0930.1English only identity6981275.81639017.7English and British only identity948610.32000221.6Any other combination of only UK identities9211.05560.6Non-UK identity only12891.420372.2UK identity and non-UK identity1840.23700.4 +