West Hampstead ward profile

A summary of West Hampstead ward in the West neighbourhood of Camden

Author

Profile

Published

July 6, 2025

Abstract
The population of Camden is among the most diverse in London and health outcomes vary significantly across its different neighbourhoods. Understanding the impact of environment on resident health is crucial for informed decision-making and the development of interventions. This area profile focuses on the ward of West Hampstead.

Introduction

This is a summary profile of West Hampstead ward in the West neighbourhood of Camden. It includes data on the neighbourhood’s demography, levels of deprivation, and key health indicators such as life expectancy and prevalence of long-term conditions.

Demography

Population

The London Borough of Camden has approximately 219,900 residents according to the latest population projections. Of this total, 11,700 reside in West Hampstead, making it the ward with the twelfth most number of residents. There are 6,200 female residents and 5,500 male residents in West Hampstead.

The 2021 Census reported a population in Camden of 220,000. This is substantially lower than expected based on previous projection of 280,000 from the 2011 Census.

Factors such as temporary relocation during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to the discrepancy, with some evidence this is now reversing.[1] Camden Council’s position is that the 2021 Census likely underestimates the population but that 2011 Census projections may overestimate. Census 2021 population projections are expected in May 2025. Despite the limitations, these will likely be the most appropriate source for population data.

When interpreting or producing statistics using the Camden population it is important to be clear which population estimate has been used (source and year) as these can produce very different metrics even when the numerators (i.e. observations of interest) are similar.

[1]
Population change in london during the pandemic - london datastore n.d.

Age

Children and young people (0-24 years old) make up 23.34% of the population of West Hampstead which is less than Camden overall (30.85%). Additionally, the percentage of older adults aged 65+ years is 9.8% compared to 12.02%.

Ethnicity

The following data uses the Office of National Statistics (ONS) ethnicity classifications. When looking at the broader ethnicities (e.g. ‘Asian’ instead of ‘Asian: Indian’), the most frequently reported ethnicity in West Hampstead is White (61.87%), which is higher than Camden (59.52%). Additionally, this ward exhibits higher proportions of residents identifying as Other ethnic group, and Mixed.

Looking at the specific subgroups of ethnicity, West Hampstead shows higher proportions of residents identifying as Other White, Any other ethnic group, Other Asian, Indian, Irish, Other Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups, Arab, White and Asian, Caribbean, Other Black, Pakistani, Roma, and Gypsy or Irish Traveller compared to the borough.