Jedi
Although Jedi numbers in England and Wales fell, it is still the most popular 'other' religion (Reuters)

The 2011 Census has shown Jedi is still the most practised of the "other" religions in England and Wales.

Jedi became a religion in 2001 after the last census revealed that 390,127 people had listed it as their religion following a nationwide campaign.

The latest official population survey of people in England and Wales found 176,632 people still practise Jedi, followed by paganism (56,620), spiritualism (39,061) and gnostic (32,382). Some 6,242 people said heavy metal was their religion.

The number of people following scientology, made famous by celebrities such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Jason Lee, increased from 1,781 in 2001 to 2,418 in 2011.

Christianity, the most practised religion in England and Wales, fell to 33.2 million - more than half the population but down from 37.3 million 10 years ago.

The other most popular religions were Muslim, Hindu and Sikh, respectively. There was a large increase in the number of people claiming no religion, rising from 14.8 percent to 25.1 percent.

Another finding from the 2011 Census was that the number of international migrants has increased over the last 10 years, increasing from nine per cent to 13 per cent. One in eight people in England and Wales were born abroad.

The most common non-UK countries of birth were India, Poland and Pakistan. There has been a ninefold increase in the number of Polish people living in the UK since the country entered the EU in 2004.

In terms of ethnicity, the vast majority of people are white British (80 percent of the total population). Eighty-six percent of residents belonged to the white ethnic group, a drop from 91 percent 10 years ago.

Indian was the second largest ethnic group, with 2.5 percent of the population. A further 3.3 percent were black/African/Caribbean/black British.

The smallest ethnic category was gypsy or Irish traveller, accounting for 58,000 people, or 0.1 percent of the population.

Other key findings:

  • Population of England and Wales: 56.1 million - increase of 3.7 million
  • There are more women than men - there are 27.6 million men and 28.5 million women
  • Four-fifths of residents described themselves in good or very good health
  • London had the highest percentage of people describing their health as good (50 percent)
  • The Northeast had the poorest health, with 44 percent saying their health is good
  • Number of cars increased from 23.9 million to 27.3 million
  • 23 percent of people have no qualifications while 27 percent are educated to a degree level or higher
  • 64 percent of households own their own home, a decrease of 4 percent
  • The number of people in privately rented accommodation increased by 6 percent.

The Office for National Statistics has produced a video on YouTube, highlighting key points from the 2011 Census: