page_title: London Borough of Bexley
section_title: Demographics
hierarchical_section_title: London Borough of Bexley / Demographics
caption_attribution_description: English: West tower and spire of St Mary the Virgin parish church, Bexley, London (formerly Kent)
context_page_description: The London Borough of Bexley is a London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has boundaries with the London Borough of Bromley to the south and the Royal Borough of Greenwich to the west; across the River Thames to the north it borders the London Borough of Havering and London Borough of Barking and Dagenham; there is a short boundary with the unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex to the northeast. There are boundaries with the Borough of Dartford to the east and Sevenoaks district to the southeast, both in the ceremonial county of Kent. The London Borough of Bexley is within the Thames Gateway, an area designated as a national priority for urban regeneration. The local authority is Bexley London Borough Council. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Crayford, Welling and Old Bexley.
context_section_description: In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 4,165. This rose slowly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 10,963 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased. The population peaked in the 1970s, when industry began to relocate from London.
  In the 2001 Census, the borough had a population of 218,307; of whom 105,148 were male, and 113,159 female. Of the population, 44.3% were in full-time employment and 11.6% in part-time employment – compared to a London average of 42.6% and 8.6%, respectively. Residents were predominantly owner-occupiers, with 31.7% owning their house outright, and a further 46.5% owning with a mortgage. Only 2.2% were in local authority housing, with a further 11.5% renting from a housing association, or other registered social landlord.
  The greater part of the population are nominal Anglicans, but there are a number of Roman Catholic churches and nonconformist congregations. In the 2001 Census, 22.7% of the area's population described themselves as non-religious or chose not to state their faith.
  Baptists, Plymouth Brethren, and Methodists are among the other congregations. In 2008 the former Crayford Methodist Church was purchased by the North West Kent Muslim Association to become a mosque serving Bexley and Dartford boroughs.
  In 2011, 58.1% of Bexley's population was between 20 and 64 years old, the lowest percentage in London. 16% of the population was over 65, the third highest behind Bromley and Havering. The average household size is 2.49, up from 2.43 in 2001. The number of households increased by 3.52% to 92,600 between 2001 and 2011, one of the lowest increases in the capital.
  In 2011, 62.5% of the borough's population identified themselves as Christian, with 24.1% having no religion. Both figures are above London's average.
  The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the 2001 and 2011 census in Bexley.
caption: The distinctive spire of the ancient parish church of St Mary the Virgin in Bexley
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