Socio-economic statistics for Shobley, Hampshire

Is Shobley in New Forest a nice place to live or is it a bit rough? We have collated a series of socio-economic statistics and demographics from UK government sources such as the 2021 Census and the Index of Multiple Deprivation. They should give you a broad snapshot of the area and the surrounding locations. Are the residents of Shobley older than the national average or younger? What is the population of Shobley and New Forest? What is the claimant count in Shobley and how many residents are unemployed? This page should provide you with the answers.

Shobley Health Statistics

Ringwood East and Sopley has significantly more residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Ringwood East and Sopley	57%	31.41%	8.65%	2.39%	0.54%
New Forest	46.12%	35.51%	13.58%	3.72%	1.07%
South East	49.98%	34.01%	11.77%	3.31%	0.93%
England	48.49%	33.71%	12.65%	3.98%	1.17%

VG = Very Good, G = Good, F = Fair, B = Bad & VB = Very Bad

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How has the health of residents in New Forest changed since 2011?

New Forest residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.61% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	45.15%	35.87%	14.09%	3.81%	1.08%
2021	46.12%	35.51%	13.58%	3.72%	1.07%

VG = Very Good, G = Good, F = Fair, B = Bad & VB = Very Bad

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shobley Unemployment Statistics

Since the introduction of Universal Credit, The Department for Work & Pensions have not issued any statistics (in our view) that can be used to ascertain the levels of unemployment or under employment in the UK, just meaningless geographic counts. However, the Office of National Statistics does publish claimant counts of people receiving out of work benefits, be that legacy Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit as a proportion of people over 16. These figures are usually updated once a month and are for Local Authority Districts and Unitary Authority Districts. So below are the figures of New Forest.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
New Forest	2%	-0.3%
South East	2.9%	-0.3%
England	3.8%	-0.3%
UK	3.7%	-0.3%

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Last Retrieved: March 2023

The 2021 census had data on people who were economically active (seeking work) yet unemployed on Census day (Sunday March 21st 2021). These statitics do cover Shobley on a ward level. However, it has to be noted that the Census day was during the height of the Covid19 pandemic and therefore are not reflective of normal levels of unemployment. For example, between March 2020 and June 2020 people claiming Universal Credit doubled in most areas of the United Kingdom and then steadily declined up to the day of the Census and beyond. This data also contains the proportion of people in part-time work (working between 1-35 hours per week), which maybe an indicator of under employment in Shobley.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	55.41%
In Part-Time Work	35.59%
Unemployed	2.4%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

64.41% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Shobley

Shobley Education Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census to found of the level of education Shobley residents have in terms of formal qualifications as a percentage. The UK government breaks qualifications down into 7 levels. A detailed explanation of these levels can be found here. However, the Census groups these into just 4 \'levels\'. Here are some examples of the qualifications each census level represents when not stated;

Level 1 - GCSE grades D, E, F, or G & below
Level 2 - GCSE A*, A, B, C or O Level grades A, B or C
Level 3 - A or AS qualification at any grade
Level 4 - HNC, Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree or Phd

In this first table we have compared Shobley to the national average for England.

Level	Ringwood East and Sopley	England
No Qualifications	11.93%	18.08%
Level 1	8.18%	9.69%
Level 2	15.32%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	4.71%	5.32%
Level 3	18.62%	16.92%
Level 4	39.14%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Shobley and New Forest

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Shobley either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 79.59 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 20.41 of Shobley residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Ringwood East and Sopley	79.59%	20.41%
New Forest	74.16%	25.84%
South East	65.66%	34.34%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shobley has a significantly higher level of home ownership than the national average. This is indicative or an economically wealthy area.

Shobley compared to other wards in New Forest

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Barton (New Forest)	87.87%	12.13%
2	Bashley	87.71%	12.29%
3	Ashurst, Copythorne South and Netley Marsh	87.54%	12.46%
4	Forest North West	85.44%	14.56%
5	Hordle	84.83%	15.17%
6	Bramshaw, Copythorne North and Minstead	83.46%	16.54%
7	Bransgore and Burley	82.55%	17.45%
8	Milford (New Forest)	82.33%	17.67%
9	Boldre and Sway	81.85%	18.15%
10	Fawley, Blackfield and Langley	81.18%	18.82%
11	Ringwood East and Sopley	79.59%	20.41%
12	Ringwood North	79.44%	20.56%
13	Totton Central	79.41%	20.59%
14	Becton	77.99%	22.01%
15	Butts Ash and Dibden Purlieu	77.16%	22.84%
16	Totton South	74.45%	25.55%
17	Hythe West and Langdown	73.99%	26.01%
18	Lyndhurst	72.96%	27.04%
19	Dibden and Hythe East	72.28%	27.72%
20	Totton East	71.7%	28.3%
21	Fordingbridge	71.18%	28.82%
22	Brockenhurst and Forest South East	71.13%	28.87%
23	Lymington Town	71.03%	28.97%
24	Totton West	69.98%	30.02%
25	Marchwood	69.8%	30.2%
26	Fernhill (New Forest)	67.94%	32.06%
27	Furzedown and Hardley	67.81%	32.19%
28	Downlands and Forest	67.62%	32.38%
29	Totton North	66.46%	33.54%
30	Pennington	66.18%	33.82%
31	Milton (New Forest)	64.49%	35.51%
32	Holbury and North Blackfield	63.49%	36.51%
33	Buckland (New Forest)	62.1%	37.9%
34	Ringwood South	61.36%	38.64%

Shobley is ranked 11 out of 34 wards in New Forest for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Shobley?

The largest employment sector in Shobley is Professional Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	22.96%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	22.38%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.34%
Administrative & Secretarial	11.19%
Skilled Trades	9.9%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	7.03%
Elementary Occupations	6.03%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	3.44%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Shobley Age Distribution Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 Census and the calculated the proportion of age groups in Ringwood East and Sopley.

Age Band	Proportion
4 & under
5 - 9 years
10 - 15 years
16 - 19 years
20 - 24 years
25 - 34 years
35 - 49 years
50 - 64 years
65 - 74 years
75 - 84 years
85 years & over

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shobley & New Forest Immigration Statistics

We have analysed the Census 2021 raw data on country of birth and compiled immigration statistics as percentages of the population. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. Below are the figures for Shobley in the New Forest local area district.

Shobley has a lower rate of immigrants than New Forest, the South East region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Ringwood East and Sopley	93.57%	6.43%
New Forest	93.12%	6.88%
South East	84.24%	15.76%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shobley compared to other wards in New Forest

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Milton	87.89%	12.11%
2	Lymington Town	88.05%	11.95%
3	Buckland	88.73%	11.27%
4	Brockenhurst and Forest South East	90.53%	9.47%
5	Lyndhurst	90.82%	9.18%
6	Pennington	91.59%	8.41%
7	Barton	92.13%	7.87%
8	Marchwood	92.24%	7.76%
9	Boldre and Sway	92.41%	7.59%
10	Downlands and Forest	92.53%	7.47%
11	Ringwood South	92.95%	7.05%
12	Milford	93.04%	6.96%
13	Becton	93.08%	6.92%
14	Totton West	93.37%	6.63%
15	Bransgore and Burley	93.42%	6.58%
16	Forest North West	93.49%	6.51%
17	Fernhill	93.5%	6.5%
18	Fordingbridge	93.57%	6.43%
19	Ringwood East and Sopley	93.57%	6.43%
20	Furzedown and Hardley	93.69%	6.31%
21	Bashley	93.7%	6.3%
22	Dibden and Hythe East	93.86%	6.14%
23	Totton Central	94.12%	5.88%
24	Totton North	94.15%	5.85%
25	Bramshaw, Copythorne North and Minstead	94.25%	5.75%
26	Totton East	94.31%	5.69%
27	Ringwood North	94.37%	5.63%
28	Butts Ash and Dibden Purlieu	94.49%	5.51%
29	Fawley, Blackfield and Langley	94.57%	5.43%
30	Hythe West and Langdown	94.59%	5.41%
31	Hordle	94.96%	5.04%
32	Ashurst, Copythorne South and Netley Marsh	95.09%	4.91%
33	Totton South	95.16%	4.84%
34	Holbury and North Blackfield	96.25%	3.75%

';Shobley is ranked 19 out of 34 wards in New Forest for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Shobley and New Forest?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in New Forest including Shobley. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Ashurst, Copythorne South and Netley Marsh	5650
Barton	5618
Bashley	2734
Becton	4999
Boldre and Sway	5537
Bramshaw, Copythorne North and Minstead	2496
Bransgore and Burley	5492
Brockenhurst and Forest South East	6287
Buckland	3651
Butts Ash and Dibden Purlieu	6506
Dibden and Hythe East	5722
Downlands and Forest	2929
Fawley, Blackfield and Langley	5934
Fernhill	6373
Fordingbridge	6645
Forest North West	2340
Furzedown and Hardley	3450
Holbury and North Blackfield	6705
Hordle	5639
Hythe West and Langdown	6393
Lymington Town	6346
Lyndhurst	3126
Marchwood	5986
Milford	5061
Milton	6483
Pennington	6305
Ringwood East and Sopley	2917
Ringwood North	6222
Ringwood South	6480
Totton Central	5486
Totton East	6277
Totton North	6686
Totton South	6136
Totton West	5038
New Forest Total	179649

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Last updated: 20/02/2024, Additional Sources: Office for National Statistics & Department for Work & Pensions.

Top 20 most depressing towns in Britain 2024