§ Mr. Ray Powellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give details of the methods employed to assess the numbers of the population of Wales by age and by sex in the age groups 65 to 70 years, 71 to 75 year, 76 to 80 years and 81 years and over.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe starting point for the Registrar General's annual estimates of population is the count of the population made in the preceding census. This is updated annually to allow for the effects of people growing older, dying and migrating. Accurate counts of deaths by age are available; migration is estimated from 129W a number of sources. The methods used are described fully in an OPCS publication—Occasional Paper 18—and I am arranging for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.