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The first figures revealed from the 2001 Census of Britain put the country's population at 58,789,194 - about one million lower than estimates made in mid-2000.
The census surveyed all people and households in the UK to provide a snapshot of the shape of Britain when it was taken on 29 April last year.
Country by country the figures were: England 49,138,831 (83.6% of the total population); Scotland 5,062,011 (8.6%); Wales 2,903,085 (4.9%); and Northern Ireland 1,685,267 (2.9%).
The census is taken every 10 years and the latest edition reveals a portrait of an ageing population.
For the first time there are more people aged over 60 than there are under 16 and the number of over-85s has increased 500 per cent since 1951 to 1.1 million.
Low response
The survey will give details of population numbers, ages and sex both nationally and for each local authority in England and Wales.
But the full census will not be released until early next year.
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