Bedfordshire tops the ranking, with 21% of residents aged under 16, ahead of Buckinghamshire and West Midlands. The full ranking is below, each entry linked to its page.

# County Under 16
1 Bedfordshire 21%
2 Buckinghamshire 21%
3 West Midlands 21%
4 Berkshire 20%
5 Greater Manchester 20%
6 Hertfordshire 20%
7 Newport 20%
8 West Yorkshire 20%
9 Cambridgeshire 19%
10 Essex 19%
11 Kent 19%
12 Leicestershire 19%
13 Merthyr Tydfil 19%
14 Northamptonshire 19%
15 Surrey 19%
16 The Vale of Glamorgan 19%
17 Torfaen 19%
18 Greater London 19%
19 Blaenau Gwent 18%
20 Bridgend 18%
21 Bristol 18%
22 Caerphilly 18%
23 Cardiff 18%
24 Cheshire 18%
25 County Durham 18%
26 Denbighshire 18%
27 Derbyshire 18%
28 East Riding of Yorkshire 18%
29 Flintshire 18%
30 Gloucestershire 18%
31 Hampshire 18%
32 Lancashire 18%
33 Merseyside 18%
34 Neath Port Talbot 18%
35 Nottinghamshire 18%
36 Oxfordshire 18%
37 Rhondda Cynon Taf 18%
38 South Yorkshire 18%
39 Staffordshire 18%
40 Tyne and Wear 18%
41 Warwickshire 18%
42 West Sussex 18%
43 Wiltshire 18%
44 Wrexham 18%
45 Carmarthenshire 17%
46 Gwynedd 17%
47 Isle of Anglesey 17%
48 Lincolnshire 17%
49 North Yorkshire 17%
50 Pembrokeshire 17%
51 Rutland 17%
52 Shropshire 17%
53 Somerset 17%
54 Suffolk 17%
55 Swansea 17%
56 Worcestershire 17%
57 Conwy 16%
58 Cornwall 16%
59 Cumbria 16%
60 Devon 16%
61 Dorset 16%
62 East Sussex 16%
63 Herefordshire 16%
64 Monmouthshire 16%
65 Norfolk 16%
66 Northumberland 16%
67 Powys 16%
68 Isle of Wight 15%
69 Scottish Borders 15%
70 Ceredigion 14%

Source: ONS Census 2021. Compiled by Postcodes UK.

Frequently asked questions

Which UK county has the youngest population?

Bedfordshire tops the list, with 21% of residents aged under 16, followed by Buckinghamshire and West Midlands.

How is this ranking measured?

This ranking is based on ONS Census 2021. It covers the ceremonial counties of England and the council and principal areas of Scotland and Wales.