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.

Towns in England and Wales: towns list, cities list, classification and population data.

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).

Population of Urban Agglomerations with 300,000 Inhabitants or more in 2014, by city, 1950-2030 (thousands). Data for 1,692 cities contained in the Excel file. Note: Each country has its own definition of what is 'urban' and therefore use exercise caution when comparing cities in different countries. Data available from the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2014). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, CD-ROM Edition. Further detail of population estimates, land area, and population density for world urban areas with over 500,000 people (924 areas) is available with Demographia's World Urban Areas report (2014). Much of this data is based on the UN urban agglomerations, though a range of other sources are also used.

Actual value and historical data chart for United Kingdom Urban Population Percent Of Total

In 2024, over 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 just over 3.03 million, closely followed by Greater Manchester at three million, and then West Yorkshire with a population of 2.4 million. Kent, Essex, and Hampshire were the three next-largest counties in terms of population, each with just over 1.9 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 2024, the most-populated Scottish council area was Glasgow City, with over 650,000 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.

The population of the United Kingdom in 2024 was estimated to be approximately 69.3 million, with over 9.6 million people living in South East England. London had the next highest population, at almost 9.1 million people, followed by the North West England at 7.7 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, 3.2 million, and 1.9 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 650,000, while in Wales, it was the Cardiff Unitary Authority at around 384,000. Northern Ireland, on the other hand, has eleven local government districts, the largest of which is Belfast with a population of approxiamtely 352,000.

United Kingdom UK: Urban Population Growth data was reported at 0.958 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.028 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Urban Population Growth data is updated yearly, averaging 0.352 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.132 % in 2008 and a record low of -0.098 % in 1982. United Kingdom UK: Urban Population Growth data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on the United Nations Population Division's World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision.; Weighted average;

2020 mid-year population estimates for England.

Historical dataset showing U.K. urban population by year from 1960 to 2023.

2020 mid-year population estimates for England.

United Kingdom UK: Population in Urban Agglomerations of More Than 1 Million data was reported at 18,996,735.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 18,805,436.000 Person for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Population in Urban Agglomerations of More Than 1 Million data is updated yearly, averaging 15,794,376.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18,996,735.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 15,318,776.000 Person in 1990. United Kingdom UK: Population in Urban Agglomerations of More Than 1 Million 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 urban agglomerations of more than one million is the country's population living in metropolitan areas that in 2000 had a population of more than one million people.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; ;

A comparison of growth rates of city regions, as well as individual components of change – births, deaths, internal migration and international migration.

This graph presents the population density of the ten leading business cities in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014. London has a significant lead in the ranking as there are 1078 more people per km² than in Bristol. Leeds, at *** people per km², is the least densely populated city on the list.

In 2024, the urban population of the United Kingdom was approximately 58.8 million, while the rural population was around 10.5 million.

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.