I don't feel old now I've hit 60, but when I step out onto the street most people do seem to be a lot younger. It doesn't worry me, but I wondered if there was a way to quantify all this. population spreadsheet published by the Office for National Statistics to see how relatively old I really am. They publish it every summer so I'm using the latest data, specifically the "mid-2024" estimates of population. These give a precise estimate for the number of people at each age from 0 to 89, then conclude with an amalgamated 90+ column. So for example last summer there were 691,406 21 year-olds in England, 8230 47 year-olds in Leicestershire and 681 86 year-olds in Milton Keynes. median age in England was 40.2, i.e. half the population are younger and half are older. If you've passed the age of 40 you are already in the older half of the population. But the most common age in England wasn't 40, it was 33. There were 833,482 33 year-olds in England last summer, marginally ahead of the 34 year-olds and 36-olds, so if you fancy setting up a greetings card company that's where you should focus your efforts. England Age range   Youngest 10% 0-8 11-20%9-16 21-30%17-25 31-40%26-32 41-50%33-39 51-60%40-47 61-70%48-55 71-80%56-63 81-90%64-73 Oldest 10%74-100+ Children occupy the top two slots, i.e. 0-16 year-olds make up the youngest 20% of the country. Pensioners occupy the bottom two slots, near enough, i.e. those aged 64 and over make up the oldest 20% of the country. I'm in the group just above that along with rest of the 1960s baby boom (we're about three-quarters of the way along the English population pyramid). Approximately speaking each 10% band comprises eight years of births, extending somewhat at the oldest end. Here's the split for the population of London. Where are you in this one? London Age range   Youngest 10% 0-8 11-20%9-16 21-30%17-24 31-40%25-29 41-50%30-35 51-60%36-41 61-70%42-48 71-80%49-57 81-90%58-67 Oldest 10%68-100+ The big difference isn't amongst the youngest - London has as many 0-16 year-olds as the rest of England. The big difference is amongst young adults because the population suddenly bulges for those in their 20s and 30s. A full 40% of London's population are under 30 and half are under 35. The central groups here comprise only five or six different ages, not seven or eight. What's happening here is a lot of people moving to London in their 20s and 30s, either from the provinces or abroad, mainly for work, and a lot of people moving away later in life, either to realise property assets or to escape rising rents. We also have a lot of students and they skew things lower too. London really is a younger city than the rest of the country. Tower Hamlets Age range   Youngest 10% 0-9 11-20%10-18 21-30%19-23 31-40%24-26 41-50%27-30 51-60%31-34 61-70%35-39 71-80%40-46 81-90%47-57 Oldest 10%58-100+ The extraordinary thing here is the young adult bulge, which squeezes out both the younger and older ends of the population. Tower Hamlets actually has proportionally fewer children than the rest of the country, whatever you might have assumed about the offspring of a foreign-born population. It's also very very light on older people, indeed only 5% of the population are of pensionable age. No wonder our council has still money to spend - local demands for social care are way below average. But what I find really chastening is that at the relatively young age of 60 I find myself in the oldest 10% of the population in Tower Hamlets. I'm not imagining it, I really am quite old for the place where I live. Median age in Tower Hamlets: 31 Median age in London: 36 Median age in England: 40 Median age in Dorset: 52 Median age in North Norfolk: 56 As for the point at which you enter the oldest quarter of the population, this varies considerably according to where you live. In Tower Hamlets the "oldest quarter" borderline is 43, in London it's 53, in England it's 59, in Dorset it's 68 and in North Norfolk it's 70. If you want to feel relatively young, move to Cromer.  Tower  Hamlets  London  England  Dorset North  Norfolk   Youngest 10%       11-20%      21-30%      31-40%      41-50%      51-60%    56-61 61-70%   59-64  71-80%  56-63   81-90% 58-67    Oldest 10%58+     So there you go, at 60 I'm not especially old by national standards, and I shall cling to that thought for a few more years. But I am old for where I live and I shall have to get used to that. Maybe someone'll even offer me a seat on the tube this morning.

The restoration of the Elizabeth Tower gets noticed.

Luxmuralis and Peter Walker work their magic.