A WORRYING picture of people leaving the region in droves emerged yesterday with the publication of new census population figures.

While the number of people in the South-East has shot up by more than ten per cent, figures for North-East people aged over 20 have fallen by 120,521 - almost five per cent.

The figures provide further evidence of a "brain drain" in the region, with academics saying qualified young people are heading abroad, as well as the South.

Professor Ray Hudson, chairman of the International Centre for Regional Regeneration and Development Studies at Durham University said: "What the region is losing is younger, better qualified people looking for work in other parts of the country, and also other parts of the world. It has all sorts of ramifications, both in terms of the labour market and beyond and in the context of regional development, it's quite worrying."

Nationally, the census showed that thousands of young people were quitting Britain to work abroad.

Len Cook, national statistician, said a large number of young men had left the country, partly due to the rave culture in the Mediterranean and expansion of higher education, and students taking "gap years".

The census also revealed what pressure will be put on North-East social services in the years to come.

People aged over 60 outnumber under-16s for the first time, and the number of over-85s across the country has increased five-fold, to 1.1 million, since 1951.

Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said: ''An ageing society presents enormous opportunities, as well as challenges for us all.

''It will only be a crisis if we don't address the issues now and come up with imaginative and flexible policies on pensions and work, long-term care and the health system."

The population of Britain was 58,789,194 - up four per cent since 1981.

Teesdale came fourth in the country, after Moyle, in Northern Ireland, the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, for having the smallest population, with 24,457 people.

In North Yorkshire, women outnumber men by more than 14,000 - except in Richmondshire which has the highest number of males per females ratio in the entire country.

The county had a population of 512,000 in 1981 which has risen by 57,660 to 569,660 in this year's census.

Detailed results on individual topics will be revealed in February 2003.