40
Demography
There are just over 115,500 people in the
Tunbridge Wells area, with over 65,000
of those living in Royal Tunbridge Wells
and Southborough. There is almost full
employment (1.2% unemployed) in the
area and the workforce is highly skilled.
Over the past few years the area has
experienced economic growth with a
year on year increase in the number of
businesses since 2008. Over 80% of the
residents are economically active and the
overall employment rate for Tunbridge
Wells has also increased.
Employment
The area provides employment for some
48,300 people drawn from the borough
and surrounding areas. The borough has
54,500 residents of working age. Local
residents are highly educated and skilled
and fill many of these local jobs. About
7,000 residents commute to London and
about 33,000 commute to jobs close to
the borough. Two thirds of the working
age population commute out of the bor-
ough to work. However half the avail-
able jobs in the borough are filled by
people commuting in.
Appendix 3: Tunbridge Wells - Economic Profile
RESIDENT POPULATION
Total population (2012)
Tunbridge Wells
South East
Great Britain
(numbers)
(numbers)
(numbers)
All people
115,500
8,724,700
61,881,400
Males
56,700
4,288,500
30,420,500
Females
58,900
4,436,300
31,460,900
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates
Working age population (2012)
Tunbridge Tunbridge South Great
Wells
Wells
East
Britain
(numbers)
(%)
(%)
(%)
All people - working age
71,800
62.2
63.1
64.2
Males - working age
35,900
63.3
63.9
65.0
Females - working age
35,900
61.0
62.3
63.4
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates
% is a proportion of total population
Working age includes all people aged 16-64
