# Fastest and slowest growing places in Wales (2025)

Newport was the fastest growing of Wales’s 22 councils in 2025 (annual population change 0.7%).

Merthyr Tydfil was the slowest growing (−0.6%). The middle council, Bridgend, had −0.1%.

Worked out by Open Index from the mid-year population estimates.

| Rank | Area | Annual population change |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Newport](https://openindex.co.uk/newport) | 0.7% |
| 2 | [Denbighshire](https://openindex.co.uk/denbighshire) | 0.4% |
| 3 | [Monmouthshire](https://openindex.co.uk/monmouthshire) | 0.2% |
| 4 | [Pembrokeshire](https://openindex.co.uk/pembrokeshire) | 0.1% |
| =5 | [Ceredigion](https://openindex.co.uk/ceredigion) | 0.0% |
| =5 | [Conwy](https://openindex.co.uk/conwy) | 0.0% |
| =5 | [Flintshire](https://openindex.co.uk/flintshire) | 0.0% |
| =5 | [Powys](https://openindex.co.uk/powys) | 0.0% |
| =5 | [Vale of Glamorgan](https://openindex.co.uk/vale-of-glamorgan) | 0.0% |
| =5 | [Wrexham](https://openindex.co.uk/wrexham) | 0.0% |
| =11 | [Bridgend](https://openindex.co.uk/bridgend) | −0.1% |
| =11 | [Caerphilly](https://openindex.co.uk/caerphilly) | −0.1% |
| =11 | [Cardiff](https://openindex.co.uk/cardiff) | −0.1% |
| =11 | [Torfaen](https://openindex.co.uk/torfaen) | −0.1% |
| =15 | [Blaenau Gwent](https://openindex.co.uk/blaenau-gwent) | −0.2% |
| =15 | [Carmarthenshire](https://openindex.co.uk/carmarthenshire) | −0.2% |
| =17 | [Gwynedd](https://openindex.co.uk/gwynedd) | −0.3% |
| =17 | [Rhondda Cynon Taf](https://openindex.co.uk/rhondda-cynon-taf) | −0.3% |
| =19 | [Isle of Anglesey](https://openindex.co.uk/isle-of-anglesey) | −0.4% |
| =19 | [Neath Port Talbot](https://openindex.co.uk/neath-port-talbot) | −0.4% |
| 21 | [Swansea](https://openindex.co.uk/swansea) | −0.5% |
| 22 | [Merthyr Tydfil](https://openindex.co.uk/merthyr-tydfil) | −0.6% |

Source: Worked out by Open Index from the mid-year population estimates. Period: 2025. Period: 2025.

## Other rankings of this measure

- [UK](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/uk)
- [England](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/england)
- [Northern Ireland](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/northern-ireland)
- [Scotland](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/scotland)
- [North East](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/north-east)
- [North West](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/north-west)
- [Yorkshire and The Humber](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/yorkshire-and-the-humber)
- [East Midlands](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/east-midlands)
- [West Midlands](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/west-midlands)
- [East of England](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/east-of-england)
- [London](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/london)
- [South East](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/south-east)
- [South West](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/south-west)

- [The map](https://openindex.co.uk/map/population-change)
- [Source and method](https://openindex.co.uk/sources/population-change)

## How to cite

Source: Open Index, openindex.co.uk. Link to this page, https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/wales.

Open Index's own text and the figures it works out are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source data keeps its publishers' licences, named with each figure. Give each figure's period and source with it.

Snapshot 2026.10.8, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23508850. The HTML page: https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-change/wales