Demographics of British Columbia

British Columbia is a Canadian province with a population of over 5.7 million people. The province represents about 13.2% of the Canadian population. Most of the population is between the ages of 15 and 49. About 60 percent of British Columbians have European descent with significant Asian and Aboriginal minorities. Just under 30% of British Columbians are immigrants. Over half of the population is irreligious, with Christianity and Sikhism being the most followed religions.

Life expectancy in the province in 2019 was 82.7 years (80.6 for male, 85.0 for female)

Vital statistics + British Columbia vital statistics since 1971 Total population Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Total fertility rate 1971 2,240,500 34,500 17,800 16,700 15.40 7.94 7.45 1972 2,302,100 34,600 17,900 16,700 15.03 7.78 7.25 1.966 1973 2,367,300 34,500 18,800 15,600 14.57 7.94 6.59 1.875 1974 2,442,600 36,200 19,400 16,800 14.82 7.94 6.88 1.769 1975 2,499,600 36,100 19,100 17,000 14.44 7.64 6.80 1.756 1976 2,533,900 36,200 18,200 18,000 14.29 7.18 7.10 1.690 1977 2,570,300 36,700 18,900 17,800 14.28 7.35 6.93 1.649 1978 2,615,200 38,000 19,100 18,900 14.53 7.30 7.23 1.630 1979 2,665,200 38,900 19,200 19,700 14.60 7.21 7.39 1.637 1980 2,745,900 40,900 19,700 21,200 14.89 7.17 7.72 1.615 1981 2,826,600 42,700 20,200 22,500 15.10 7.14 7.96 1.619 1982 2,876,500 42,400 20,300 22,100 14.74 7.06 7.68 1.664 1983 2,907,500 43,700 20,400 23,300 15.03 7.02 8.02 1.631 1984 2,947,200 43,500 20,800 22,700 14.76 7.06 7.71 1.661 1985 2,975,100 42,400 21,400 21,000 14.25 7.19 7.06 1.675 1986 3,003,600 42,200 21,300 20,900 14.05 7.09 6.96 1.623 1987 3,048,700 41,900 22,700 19,200 13.75 7.44 6.30 1.609 1988 3,114,800 43,600 22,600 21,000 13.99 7.26 6.74 1.659 1989 3,196,700 45,200 23,300 21,900 14.13 7.29 6.85 1.696 1990 3,292,100 45,100 23,700 21,300 13.70 7.20 6.48 1.663 1991 3,373,800 46,100 24,300 21,800 13.66 7.21 6.46 1.696 1992 3,468,800 46,000 25,600 20,300 13.26 7.38 5.86 1.663 1993 3,567,800 46,400 25,500 20,900 13.01 7.15 5.86 1.651 1994 3,676,100 47,000 26,300 20,700 12.78 7.15 5.63 1.645 1995 3,777,400 46,900 27,000 19,900 12.42 7.15 5.27 1.619 1996 3,874,300 45,300 27,600 17,700 11.69 7.12 4.57 1.529 1997 3,948,600 43,600 27,900 15,700 11.04 7.07 3.98 1.461 1998 3,983,100 42,600 27,800 14,800 10.70 6.98 3.72 1.441 1999 4,011,400 41,600 27,700 13,900 10.37 6.90 3.47 1.418 2000 4,039,200 40,400 27,900 12,500 10.00 6.91 3.09 1.388 2001 4,076,900 39,900 28,800 11,200 9.79 7.06 2.75 1.376 2002 4,100,500 40,500 28,700 11,800 9.87 7.00 2.88 1.412 2003 4,124,400 40,200 29,900 10,300 9.75 7.25 2.50 1.415 2004 4,155,600 40,700 30,400 10,300 9.80 7.31 2.48 1.436 2005 4,196,100 41,200 30,400 10,800 9.82 7.25 2.57 1.455 2006 4,241,800 42,400 31,000 11,400 10.00 7.31 2.69 1.490 2007 4,291,000 44,100 32,000 12,100 10.28 7.46 2.82 1.537 2008 4,349,300 44,700 31,400 13,300 10.28 7.22 3.06 1.531 2009 4,410,500 44,600 31,400 13,200 10.11 7.12 2.99 1.500 2010 4,465,600 43,900 31,700 12,200 9.83 7.10 2.73 1.451 2011 4,503,800 43,800 32,300 11,500 9.72 7.17 2.55 1.434 2012 4,570,900 44,200 32,900 11,300 9.67 7.20 2.47 1.428 2013 4,634,900 43,900 33,200 10,700 9.48 7.17 2.31 1.399 2014 4,712,700 44,500 34,800 9,600 9.44 7.38 2.04 1.393 2015 4,765,500 44,700 35,600 9,100 9.38 7.47 1.91 1.394 2016 4,861,300 45,000 38,400 6,600 9.26 7.90 1.36 1.369 2017 4,934,200 44,300 38,100 6,200 8.98 7.72 1.26 1.318 2018 5,021,000 43,400 38,600 4,900 8.64 7.69 0.95 1.256 2019 5,111,000 43,100 39,200 3,900 8.43 7.67 0.76 1.209 2020 5,176,100 42,900 42,800 100 8.29 8.27 0.02 1.175 2021 5,226,700 43,000 45,600 −2,700 8.22 8.72 −0.52 1.153 2022 5,356,300 41,000 45,100 −4,100 7.65 8.42 −0.77 1.058 2023 5,519,000 41,800 43,100 −1,300 7.57 7.81 −0.24 1.040 2024 5,682,100 43,000 43,200 −200 7.57 7.60 −0.04 1.052

+ British Columbia total fertility rate projections Total population Total fertility rate20265,812,8001.07620275,901,6001.08220285,997,3001.08620296,093,5001.08820306,189,4001.08820316,284,8001.08520326,379,7001.08220336,473,9001.07720346,567,6001.07120356,660,5001.06520366,752,8001.05720376,844,2001.04920386,934,7001.04120397,024,2001.03120407,112,5001.02220417,199,4001.01220427,284,8001.00220437,368,9000.99120447,451,5000.98120457,532,8000.97020467,612,8000.959

Age structure   Males Females Age group Number Percent Number Percent 0–4 111,015 2.22% 105,805 2.12% 5–9 125,810 2.52% 118,485 2.37% 10–14 132,425 2.65% 123,365 2.47% 15–19 131,245 2.62% 122,445 2.45% 20–24 151,505 3.03% 143,145 2.86% 25–29 170,500 3.41% 166,585 3.33% 30–34 178,925 3.58% 179,660 3.59% 35–39 175,175 3.5% 178,175 3.56% 40–44 156,480 3.13% 163,260 3.26% 45–49 149,520 2.99% 160,515 3.21% 50–54 158,540 3.17% 170,460 3.41% 55–59 172,520 3.45% 183,825 3.68% 60–64 170,210 3.40% 184,920 3.7% 65–69 152,705 3.05% 166,700 3.33% 70–74 130,370 2.61% 141,995 2.84% 75–79 86,060 1.72% 95,015 1.9% 80–84 55,285 1.11% 65,780 1.32% 85-89 32,315 0.65% 42,005 0.84% 90-94 13,715 0.27% 23,120 0.46% 95-99 2,865 0.06% 6,925 0.14% 100+ 330 <0.01% 1,185 0.02% Totals 2,457,515 49.14% 2,543,365 50.86%

Percentage surviving

The percentage surviving is the percent of the population that would survive to certain age if their life conditions, in a given year, were extrapolated to their whole life. Data for 2019.

+Percentage surviving to certain ages in British Columbia (2019)AgePercentage survivingMaleFemale 1 99.6 99.7 0.1 1.00 5 99.6 99.7 0.1 1.00 10 99.5 99.6 0.1 1.00 15 99.5 99.6 0.1 1.00 20 99.3 99.4 0.1 1.00 25 98.9 99.3 0.4 1.00 30 98.4 99.1 0.7 1.01 35 97.7 98.8 1.1 1.01 40 97.0 98.4 1.4 1.01 45 96.2 97.9 1.8 1.02 50 95.0 97.2 2.3 1.02 55 93.3 96.2 2.9 1.03 60 90.8 94.7 3.9 1.04 65 87.3 92.5 5.2 1.06 70 82.1 89.1 7.0 1.09 75 74.3 83.7 9.4 1.13 80 63.0 75.0 12.0 1.19 85 47.4 61.5 14.1 1.30 90 28.5 42.0 13.5 1.48 95 11.1 19.8 8.7 1.78 100 2.216 5.155 2.939 2.33 105 0.188 0.577 0.389 3.07 110 0.006 0.025 0.019 4.17

Population history

YearPopulationFive year % changeTen year % changeRank amongprovinces1851 55,000 n/a n/a n/a1861 51,524 n/a −6.3 n/a1871 36,247 n/a −29.7 71881 49,459 n/a 36.4 81891 98,173 n/a 98.5 81901 178,657 n/a 82.0 61911 392,480 n/a 119.7 61921 524,582 n/a 33.7 61931 694,263 n/a 32.3 61941 817,861 n/a 17.8 41951 1,165,210 n/a 42.5 31956 1,398,464 20.0 n/a 31961 1,629,082 16.5 39.8 31966 1,873,674 15.0 34.0 31971 2,184,620 16.6 34.1 31976 2,466,610 12.9 31.6 31981 2,744,467 11.3 25.6 31986 2,883,370 5.1 16.9 31991 3,282,061 13.8 19.6 31996 3,724,500 13.5 29.2 32001 3,907,738 4.9 19.1 32006 4,113,487 5.4 10.4 32011 4,400,057 7.0 12.6 32016 4,648,055 5.6 13.0 32021 5,000,879 7.6 13.7 3 Statistics Canada – Population

Ethnic origins

First-generation immigrants from the British Isles remain a strong component of local society despite the end of special immigration status for British subjects in the 1960s. Also present in large numbers relative to other Canadian cities (except Toronto) is a diverse background of European ethnicities, with many first- and second-generation immigrants, notably Germans, Ukrainians, Scandinavians, Yugoslavs and Italians. Third-generation Europeans are generally of mixed lineage, traditionally intermarrying with other ethnic groups more than in any other Canadian province.

In recent decades, the proportion of people with Chinese and Indian ethnicity has risen sharply, specifically in the Lower Mainland. This has led to an extremely diverse population compared to many other provinces, especially the neighbouring prairie provinces.

Note: The following statistics represent both single (e.g., "German") and multiple (e.g., "part Chinese, part English") responses to the 2006 and 2016 census, and thus add up to more than 100%.

+ Ethnic groups in British Columbia (2006–2016)Ethnic group20162006 English1,203,54026.39%1,207,24529.63%Canadian866,53019%720,20017.67%Scottish860,77518.88%828,14520.32%Irish675,13514.80%618,12015.17%German603,26513.23%561,57013.78%Chinese540,15511.84%432,43510.60%French388,8158.53%361,2158.86%Indian309,3156.78%232,3705.70%Ukrainian229,2055.03%197,2654.84%Indigenous peoples of North America220,2454.83%193,0604.74%Dutch (Netherlands)213,6704.69%196,4204.82%Italian166,0953.64%143,1553.51%Polish149,6353.28%128,3603.15%Norwegian138,4303.04%129,4203.18%Russian131,0602.87%114,1052.80%Welsh113,9052.5%104,2752.56%Swedish110,0302.41%104,0252.55%Filipino158,2153.47%94,2552.3%Métis90,5151.98%62,5701.5%American (USA)78,1701.71%66,7651.6%Spanish64,4701.41%52,6401.3%Korean63,3001.39%51,8601.3%Danish58,2051.28%56,1251.4%Hungarian (Magyar)56,5351.24%49,8701.2%Japanese51,1501.12%41,5851.0%Austrian48,5101.06%46,6201.1%Iranian47,9851.05%29,2650.7%Portuguese41,7700.92%34,6600.9%Vietnamese41,4350.91%30,8350.8%Punjabi38,7250.85%18,5250.5%Finnish34,1500.75%29,8750.7%Swiss31,3900.69%28,2400.7%Romanian31,2500.69%25,6700.6%Icelandic26,4100.58%22,1100.5%Greek24,4600.54%21,7700.5%Croatian23,8450.52%18,8150.5%Czech23,3750.51%21,1500.5%Belgian19,9800.44%17,5100.4%Jewish17,5800.39%30,8300.8%

Projections + Pan-ethnic origin projections (2031–2041) 2031 2036 2041Population% Population% Population% European 3,145,000 3,112,000 3,060,000 East Asian 977,000 1,072,000 1,160,000 South Asian 748,000 860,000 958,000 Indigenous 399,000 429,000 456,000 Southeast Asian 366,000 421,000 475,000 Middle Eastern 169,000 199,000 227,000 Latin American 108,000 124,000 139,000 African 101,000 118,000 134,000 Other 99,000 117,000 135,000 Projected British Columbia population 6,111,000 6,453,000 6,744,000

Visible minorities and Indigenous peoples