London was by far the largest urban agglomeration in the United Kingdom in 2025, with an estimated population of *** million people, more than three times as large as Manchester, the UK’s second-biggest urban agglomeration. The agglomerations of Birmingham and Leeds / Bradford had the third and fourth-largest populations, respectively, while the biggest city in Scotland, Glasgow, was the fifth largest. Largest cities in Europe Two cities in Europe had larger urban areas than London, with Istanbul having a population of around **** million and the Russian capital Moscow having a population of over **** million. The city of Paris, located just over 200 miles away from London, was the second-largest city in Europe, with a population of more than **** million people. Paris was followed by London in terms of population size, and then by the Spanish cities of Madrid and Barcelona, at *** million and *** million people, respectively. The Italian capital, Rome, was the next largest city at *** million, followed by Berlin at *** million. London’s population growth Throughout the 1980s, the population of London fluctuated from a high of **** million people in 1981 to a low of **** million inhabitants in 1988. During the 1990s, the population of London increased once again, growing from ****million at the start of the decade to **** million by 1999. London's population has continued to grow since the turn of the century, and despite declining between 2019 and 2021, it reached *** million people in 2023 and is forecast to reach almost *** million by 2047.

This statistic shows the ten largest cities in the United Kingdom in 2021. In 2021, around 8.78 million people lived in London, making it the largest city in the United Kingdom.

United Kingdom UK: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 19.234 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 19.203 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 18.336 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 19.939 % in 1960 and a record low of 17.256 % in 1973. United Kingdom UK: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted Average;

National and subnational mid-year population estimates for the UK and its constituent countries by administrative area, age and sex (including components of population change, median age and population density).

In 2023, almost nine million people lived in Greater London, making it the most populated ceremonial county in England. The West Midlands Metropolitan County, which contains the large city of Birmingham, was the second-largest county at 2.98 million inhabitants, followed by Greater Manchester and then West Yorkshire with populations of 2.95 million and 2.4 million, respectively. Kent, Essex, and Hampshire were the three next-largest counties in terms of population, each with around 1.89 million people. A patchwork of regions England is just one of the four countries that compose the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with England, Scotland and Wales making up Great Britain. England is therefore not to be confused with Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a whole. Within England, the next subdivisions are the nine regions of England, containing various smaller units such as unitary authorities, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. The counties in this statistic, however, are based on the ceremonial counties of England as defined by the Lieutenancies Act of 1997. Regions of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Like England, the other countries of the United Kingdom have their own regional subdivisions, although with some different terminology. Scotland’s subdivisions are council areas, while Wales has unitary authorities, and Northern Ireland has local government districts. As of 2022, the most-populated Scottish council area was Glasgow City, with over 622,000 inhabitants. In Wales, Cardiff had the largest population among its unitary authorities, and in Northern Ireland, Belfast was the local government area with the most people living there.

According to the 2021 Census, London was the most ethnically diverse region in England and Wales – 63.2% of residents identified with an ethnic minority group.

In the Brexit referendum of 2016, almost three quarters of people who lived in Edinburgh voted to remain in the European Union. Several other major cities also had a majority of remain voters, including the English cities of London, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds. In the UK’s second-largest city, Birmingham, a slight majority of people voted to leave the European Union. Across the whole of the United Kingdom, the leave side was victorious after winning the votes of 17.4 million people. Perceptions on Brexit in 2025 Since the UK left the EU in 2020, the share of people who regret Brexit has been steadily increasing. As of January 2025, 55 percent of people in Great Britain thought that Brexit was the wrong decision, compared with 30 percent who still supported the decision. Furthermore, a survey from the same month suggested that people thought Brexit had reaped few benefits. Approximately 67 percent of those surveyed thought that it had negatively impacted the cost of living, and 65 percent believing it had diminished the UK economy as a whole. By contrast, the main positive impact of Brexit was seen as the UK's control over its own laws. Demographics of Brexit voters Although several major English cities supported the UK remaining in the EU, every English region, with the exception of Greater London, voted for Brexit. While Wales also supported leave, both Scotland and Northern Ireland had a majority who supported remain. There were also noticeable divisions across age groups, with younger voters typically more likely to vote against Brexit, compared with older ones who supported it. Almost three-quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds voted Remain, compared with 60 percent of those aged 65 or over who backed Leave.

In 2016, it was estimated that Birmingham had the largest Muslim population of any local authority in England and Wales at approximately 280 thousand people. Newham and Tower Hamlets, both boroughs of London, had the second and third-largest Muslim populations at 135 and 128 thousand respectively.

In 2020, the population of the United Kingdom was estimated to have grown by approximately 0.4 percent, with the population growing fastest in the South West and East Midlands, which reported growth rates of 0.6 percent in this year. By contrast, growth in Northern Ireland and Scotland was below the UK average, at just 0.1 percent and zero percent, respectively. Four countries of the UK Within the UK, South East England had the highest population of the regions that comprise the United Kingdom, at more than 9.37 million people. In terms of the four countries of the UK, England had by far the highest population at over 57.7 million people, compared with Scotland (5.5 million) Wales (3.13 million) and Northern Ireland (1.9 million people) which have comparatively smaller populations. Largest cities in the UK With 8.9 million people living there, London is one of the most heavily population regions of the UK, and by far the largest city. Other large cities in the UK include West Midlands urban area, centered around the city of Birmingham at 2.95 million people, along with Greater Manchester at 2.91 million, with these two cities generally considered as the main contenders for being the country's second-city.

The gross domestic product of London was approximately 569 billion British pounds in 2023, far bigger than any other major metropolitan area of the United Kingdom in that year. The metropolitan area with the second-largest GDP was Greater Manchester, at around 101.3 billion British pounds,

In 2023, London had a gross domestic product of over 569 billion British pounds, by far the most of any region of the United Kingdom. The region of South East England which surrounds London had the second-highest GDP in this year, at over 360 billion pounds. North West England, which includes the major cities of Manchester and Liverpool, had the third-largest GDP among UK regions, at almost 250 billion pounds. Levelling Up the UK London’s economic dominance of the UK can clearly be seen when compared to the other regions of the country. In terms of GDP per capita, the gap between London and the rest of the country is striking, standing at over 63,600 pounds per person in the UK capital, compared with just over 37,100 pounds in the rest of the country. To address the economic imbalance, successive UK governments have tried to implement "levelling-up policies", which aim to boost investment and productivity in neglected areas of the country. The success of these programs going forward may depend on their scale, as it will likely take high levels of investment to reverse economic neglect regions have faced in the recent past. Overall UK GDP The gross domestic product for the whole of the United Kingdom amounted to 2.56 trillion British pounds in 2024. During this year, GDP grew by 0.9 percent, following a growth rate of 0.4 percent in 2023. Due to the overall population of the UK growing faster than the economy, however, GDP per capita in the UK fell in both 2023 and 2024. Nevertheless, the UK remains one of the world’s biggest economies, with just five countries (the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India) having larger economies. It is it likely that several other countries will overtake the UK economy in the coming years, with Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico all expected to have larger economies than Britain by 2050.

In the 2024/25 reporting year, West Yorkshire Police reported a crime rate of 114.5 crimes per 1,000 population, the highest crime rate among the provided police force areas whose territories include large cities. Greater Manchester Police reported a crime rate of 108.2 crimes per 1,000 population and had the second-highest crime rate during this year.

In 2024, Russia had the largest population among European countries at ***** million people. The next largest countries in terms of their population size were Turkey at **** million, Germany at **** million, the United Kingdom at **** million, and France at **** million. Europe is also home to some of the world’s smallest countries, such as the microstates of Liechtenstein and San Marino, with populations of ****** and ****** respectively. Europe’s largest economies Germany was Europe’s largest economy in 2023, with a Gross Domestic Product of around *** trillion Euros, while the UK and France are the second and third largest economies, at *** trillion and *** trillion euros respectively. Prior to the mid-2000s, Europe’s fourth-largest economy, Italy, had an economy that was of a similar sized to France and the UK, before diverging growth patterns saw the UK and France become far larger economies than Italy. Moscow and Istanbul the megacities of Europe Two cities on the eastern borders of Europe were Europe’s largest in 2023. The Turkish city of Istanbul, with a population of 15.8 million, and the Russian capital, Moscow, with a population of 12.7 million. Istanbul is arguably the world’s most famous transcontinental city with territory in both Europe and Asia and has been an important center for commerce and culture for over 2,000 years. Paris was the third largest European city with a population of ** million, with London being the fourth largest at *** million.

London was by far the most visited city by international tourists in the United Kingdom in 2023. That year, inbound visits to the UK's capital totaled just over ** million, staying roughly ***** percent lower than in 2019, prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Edinburgh and Manchester followed in the ranking, reporting around *** million and *** million visits, respectively. Overall, the number of inbound visits to the UK reached ** million in 2023 but remained below pre-pandemic levels. What is the leading tourist attraction in London? Tourists visit London for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is its attractions. In 2023, the British Museum was London’s most visited tourist attraction, drawing in approximately *** million visitors. The Natural History Museum in South Kensington and the Tate Modern came next in the ranking, with about *** and *** million visitors, respectively. While attendance at many of London’s top tourist attractions saw a significant increase in 2023 compared to the previous year, attendance generally remained below pre-pandemic levels. What is the leading region for summer staycations in the UK? A 'staycation' typically refers to a holiday spent in one's home country rather than abroad. It can also refer to a holiday spent at home involving day trips to local attractions. The leading region for summer staycations in the UK, according to an April 2024 survey, was the South West. Meanwhile, ** percent of respondents said that they intended to visit Scotland during their summer holiday while only ***** percent stated that they would like to visit Northern Ireland. London came second in the ranking.

In 2023, London had approximately **** business startups per 10,000 population, by far the most of any city in the UK in that year, with Slough having the second-highest at **** startups per 10,000 people.

In 2023, the population of the United Kingdom reached 68.3 million, compared with 67.6 million in 2022. The UK population has more than doubled since 1871 when just under 31.5 million lived in the UK and has grown by around 8.2 million since the start of the twenty-first century. For most of the twentieth century, the UK population steadily increased, with two noticeable drops in population occurring during World War One (1914-1918) and in World War Two (1939-1945). Demographic trends in postwar Britain After World War Two, Britain and many other countries in the Western world experienced a 'baby boom,' with a postwar peak of 1.02 million live births in 1947. Although the number of births fell between 1948 and 1955, they increased again between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s, with more than one million people born in 1964. Since 1964, however, the UK birth rate has fallen from 18.8 births per 1,000 people to a low of just 10.2 in 2020. As a result, the UK population has gotten significantly older, with the country's median age increasing from 37.9 years in 2001 to 40.7 years in 2022. What are the most populated areas of the UK? The vast majority of people in the UK live in England, which had a population of 57.7 million people in 2023. By comparison, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland had populations of 5.44 million, 3.13 million, and 1.9 million, respectively. Within England, South East England had the largest population, at over 9.38 million, followed by the UK's vast capital city of London, at 8.8 million. London is far larger than any other UK city in terms of urban agglomeration, with just four other cities; Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and Glasgow, boasting populations that exceed one million people.

London was by far the city with the highest international tourism spending in the United Kingdom in 2023. That year, inbound travel expenditure in the UK's capital amounted to **** million British pounds. Meanwhile, ********* and ********** ranked second and third, respectively. These ranking positions were matched in the list of cities in the UK with the highest number of international visits.

The population of the United Kingdom in 2023 was estimated to be approximately 68.3 million in 2023, with almost 9.48 million people living in South East England. London had the next highest population, at over 8.9 million people, followed by the North West England at 7.6 million. With the UK's population generally concentrated in England, most English regions have larger populations than the constituent countries of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which had populations of 5.5 million, 3.16 million, and 1.92 million respectively. English counties and cities The United Kingdom is a patchwork of various regional units, within England the largest of these are the regions shown here, which show how London, along with the rest of South East England had around 18 million people living there in this year. The next significant regional units in England are the 47 metropolitan and ceremonial counties. After London, the metropolitan counties of the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and West Yorkshire were the biggest of these counties, due to covering the large urban areas of Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds respectively. Regional divisions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland The smaller countries that comprise the United Kingdom each have different local subdivisions. Within Scotland these are called council areas whereas in Wales the main regional units are called unitary authorities. Scotland's largest Council Area by population is that of Glasgow City at over 622,000, while in Wales, it was the Cardiff Unitary Authority at around 372,000. Northern Ireland, on the other hand, has eleven local government districts, the largest of which is Belfast with a population of around 348,000.

London remained the most expensive city for hotel accommodations in the United Kingdom, with an average nightly rate of *** British pounds in 2024. This figure stood in stark contrast to Milton Keynes, where travelers found rooms for less than half that price at ** British pounds per night. How expensive is accommodation in the United Kingdom? While London was highest on the list for hotel room prices, it did not command the highest average nightly Airbnb rates in the United Kingdom. Edinburgh topped the list with an average price of *** British pounds per night, significantly higher than London's *** British pounds. Interestingly, even smaller UK cities like St Andrews showed competitive nightly hotel rates among selected small cities in the United Kingdom, reaching *** British pounds per night in April 2024. Occupancy rates and accommodation preferences Despite high prices in some areas, the UK’s hotel industry in the country has thrived in recent years. In May 2024, the monthly hotel occupancy rate in the United Kingdom reached ** percent, surpassing levels seen in the previous four years. Edinburgh, the second most expensive city for hotels, saw ** percent of its visitors choosing hotels, motels, or inns as their preferred accommodation type in Edinburgh in 2023. The Scottish capital's popularity was further evidenced by comparing the annual average room occupancy rate of hotels in Scotland, with its region's nearly ** percent in 2024, outperforming even Greater Glasgow's robust ** percent

In 2023, according to data provided by StartupBlink the top city for startups in the United Kingdom was London with a total score of ******. Cambridge, Manchester, and Oxford were measured as the second, third, and fourth-best locations for startups respectively.