Editing Port Talbot (section)

== Human geography ==
With heavy industry and an urban motorway, Port Talbot was reported as having the worst air pollution in Wales in 2005 with a [[Particulates|PM<sub>10</sub> particulate]] level of 30{{nbsp}}μg/m<sup>3</sup> (micrograms per cubic metre). By 2018 the air quality had improved to meet the [[WHO]]'s recommended limit of 10{{nbsp}}μg/m<sup>3</sup>.<ref>{{cite web|title=Port Talbot tops pollution chart|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4303811.stm|website=BBC News|access-date=12 May 2018|date=28 February 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=UK's most polluted towns and cities revealed|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43964341|website=BBC News|date=4 May 2018}}</ref>

According to the [[Office for National Statistics]] the Neath Port Talbot population had increased by 1.8 percent, from around 139,800 in 2011 to 142,300 in 2021. This was higher than the overall increase for Wales (1.4 percent), where the population grew by 44,000 to 3,107,500. In 2021 Neath Port Talbot ranked ninth for total population out of 22 local authority areas in Wales. This amounts to a fall of one place in a decade. As of 2021 Neath Port Talbot was the 11th least densely populated of Wales' 22 local authority areas. There had been an increase of 15.5 percent in people aged 65 years and over, a decrease of 2.3 percent in people aged 15 to 64 years, and an increase of 2.5 percent in children aged under 15 years.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censuspopulationchange/W06000012/ | title=How the population changed in Neath Port Talbot, Census 2021 - ONS }}</ref>