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Population
Tamworth's resident population of around 74,500 makes it one of the main urban centres in Southern Staffordshire. Indeed, it has the highest population density (24.2 people per hectare) of all the Southern Staffordshire districts and second only to Stoke on Trent (25.8 people per hectare) in the County as a whole.

Source - Census 2001, ONS

Tamworth has a very young population structure with an average age of 35.99, which is the lowest of all the Staffordshire districts and lower than the West Midlands and national averages (38.53 and 39.28 respectively). 33.54% of the population is under 25, compared to 31.8% in the West Midlands and 31.8% nationally (Source: Census 2001). A high proportion of the population is of working age - 64.1%, compared to 60.5% for the West Midlands and 61.4% nationally, which is set to increase further as the large young population reaches working age. (Source: ONS Midyear Population Estimates 200

Employment
Tamworth's diverse and vibrant economic base means that the Borough has done well in terms of new job creation over recent years. Overall employment increased by over 10,000 during the 1990s, with a further 3,900 jobs forecast to be created by 2020 (Source: Southern Staffordshire Economic Futures Study, 2004). 84.7% of working-age people were in employment in 2001, significantly higher than the West Midlands and Great Britain figures of 74.3% and 74.6% respectively (source: Southern Staffordshire Economic Futures Study, 2004).

Businesses, sectors and clusters
In terms of output, Financial and Business Services at 19.6%, Distribution at 16.5% and Transport and Communications at 12.5% are all important contributors. A high share is still devoted to manufacturing in Tamworth compared to both the West Midlands and the UK as a whole, with metals and transport equipment the largest sectors, contributing over 10% of the Borough's total output.

 % Output Shares (2001)

Source: Southern Staffordshire Economic Futures Study, 2004

Tamworth's strong manufacturing base means that it is still a very important sector in terms of jobs, with an 18.2% share of total employment (source: NOMIS annual business enquiry employee analysis, 2003), which is just over the West Midlands average (18%) and far higher than the national average (12.6%). Within the Services sector, Finance & Business Services and Public Admin, Education & Health are important sources of employment at 21% and 15% respectively.

Share of employee jobs by sector

Source: annual business inquiry employee analysis (2003)

A major analysis of cluster opportunities undertaken by the sub-regional economic development partnership, the Southern Staffordshire Partnership (Economic Futures Study, 2004), has identified particular cluster strengths and opportunities in the sub-region. For Tamworth, there is good representation across the clusters, with particular concentrations within the Building Technologies, Transport Technologies and Medical Technologies clusters. There are also good development prospects for the Specialist Business Services and Environmental Technologies clusters.