In 2024, the population of the United Kingdom reached 69.3 million, compared with 68.5 million in 2023. The UK population has more than doubled since 1871 when just under 31.5 million lived in the UK and has grown by around 10.4 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 58.6 million people in 2024. By comparison, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland had populations of 5.5 million, 3.2 million, and 1.9 million, respectively. Within England, South East England had the largest population, at over 9.6 million, followed by the UK's vast capital city of London, at almost 9.1 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.

National and subnational mid-year population estimates for England and Wales by administrative area, age and sex (including components of population change, median age and population density).

Presents key findings from the Registrar General's Annual Review. Source agency: National Records of Scotland Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Scotland's Population: The Registrar General's Annual Review of Demographic Trends

There were almost 4.8 million people aged between 30 and 34 in the United Kingdom in 2024, making it the most populous age group in that year. Those aged between 35 and 39 years comprised the next most numerous age group in this year, at over 4.78 million people. Millennials overtake Boomers as biggest generation Post-war demographic trends, particularly the 'baby boom' phenomenon, have significantly influenced the current age distribution in the UK. The postwar peak of live births in 1947 resulted in the dominance of the Baby Boomer generation for several decades, until 2020 when Millennials became the largest generational cohort, surpassing the Boomers for the first time. The following year, the UK Boomer population was then overtaken by Generation X, the generation born between Boomers and Millennials. Generation Z, remained smaller than the three generations that preceded it until 2024 when there were more Gen Zers than Boomers. Aging UK population poses challenges The median age of the UK population is projected to reach 44.5 years by 2050, compared to 34.9 years in 1950. This aging trend is indicative of broader global demographic shifts, with the median age of people worldwide forecasted to increase from 23.6 years in 1950 to 41.9 years by 2100. How countries like the UK manage their aging populations will be one of the key challenges of the next few decades. It is likely the UK's struggling National Health Service (NHS) will come under even more pressure in the coming years. There are also tough economic questions, in particular as more people enter retirement age and the UK's working population gets smaller in relation to it.

*Update 6 August - draft 2024-based projections are now available. Final versions of these projections are expected to be published early in 2026. More information about these can be found in this blog post. The trend-based projections include a range of variants based on different assumptions about future levels of migration. The projections are produced for all local authorities in England & Wales. The datasets include summary workbooks with population and summary components of change as well as zip archives with the full detailed outputs from the models, including components of change by single year of age and sex. The most recent set of trend-based population projections currently available are the 2022-based projections (August 2024). Additional documentation, including updated information about methodologies and assumptions will be published in the coming days. For more information about these projections, see the accompanying blog post. The 2022-based projections comprise three variants based on different periods of past migration patterns and assumed levels of future fertility rates. Trend-based projections don't explicitly account for future housing delivery. For most local planning purposes we generally recommend the use of housing-led projections These projections are based on modelled back series of population estimates produced by the GLA and available here 14 July 2023 - following a minor update to the modelled population estimates series, we have made available an additional version of the projections based on these updated inputs. At this time we have no plans to update or replace the outputs and documentation published in January 2023. However, we recommend users looking to use the projections in analysis or as inputs to onward modelling consider using these updated outputs. Documentation page Back to projections homepage

Principal projection for the UK - population by five-year age groups and sex.

Covers population and demographic information. It contains commentary on the latest findings and topical articles on relevant subjects.

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Pop Trends

Changes in demographics will fundamentally shift the types of consumers that insurers need to target, as well as the types of products they need to provide. An aging population will put increased strain on state pensions and social services like public healthcare. A declining middle class due to median incomes not increasing as fast as other core goods and services means young people are buying a house, getting married, and starting families at later points in life. And a larger proportion of the population living in urban areas leads to increased health risk due to pollution, poor hygiene, and other urban lifestyle factors. These three factors will help shape the insurance industry going forward. Read More

The population of the United Kingdom grew by 1.1 percent in 2024, compared with 1.32 percent in 2023, which was the fastest annual growth rate during this time period. Before 2023, the UK population grew at its fastest rate in 1962 (0.92 percent) and shrank the most in 1951 (-0.19 percent.)

The trend-based projections include a range of variants based on different assumptions about future levels of migration. The projections are produced for all local authorities in England & Wales. The datasets include summary workbooks with population and summary components of change as well as zip archives with the full detailed outputs from the models, including components of change by single year of age and sex. The most recent set of trend-based population projections currently available are the 2022-based projections (August 2024). Additional documentation, including updated information about methodologies and assumptions will be published in the coming days. For more information about these projections, see the accompanying blog post. The 2022-based projections comprise three variants based on different periods of past migration patterns and assumed levels of future fertility rates. Trend-based projections don't explicitly account for future housing delivery. For most local planning purposes we generally recommend the use of housing-led projections These projections are based on modelled back series of population estimates produced by the GLA and available here 14 July 2023 - following a minor update to the modelled population estimates series, we have made available an additional version of the projections based on these updated inputs. At this time we have no plans to update or replace the outputs and documentation published in January 2023. However, we recommend users looking to use the projections in analysis or as inputs to onward modelling consider using these updated outputs. Documentation page Back to projections homepage

Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) showing breakdowns of victimisation over time and by various demographic characteristics.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the England population by year. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population trend of England.

Content

The dataset constitues the following datasets

• England, AR Population Dataset: Yearly Figures, Population Change, and Percent Change Analysis

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Population Projections from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These are the official projections of the future resident population in Lincolnshire. Population projections show estimates of future population sizes for the next 25 years based on recent population trends and Population Mid-Year Estimates (also published on this platform). Please note that although ONS data may show exact numbers, they are estimates so some rounding should be applied. Population projections are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and are updated every two years.

Estimates of the usually resident population as at 30 June of the reference year.

The Population Estimates reflect the administrative boundaries that were in place on 30 June of the reference year.

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Population Estimates for England and Wales

The trend-based projections include a range of variants based on different assumptions about future levels of migration. The projections are produced for all local authorities in England & Wales and nationally for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The datasets include summary workbooks for London boroughs and detailed component of change outputs for all model areas.

The most recent set of trend-based population projections currently available are the 2020-based variant projections (September 2021).

The 2020-based projections comprise 4 principal variants which have been produced using different assumptions about future levels of domestic and international migration. Variant projections have been produced in order to assist users in understanding current uncertainty about future population growth. A full explanation of the differences between these projections is available in the supporting documentation.

Additionally, the trend-based projections also project the future number of households at local authority level by converting the projected population into households. Different sets of trend-based Household projections have been created using both the 2014-based DCLG household projection model and the 2018-based ONS household model so that users can compare the results of using these two different methodologies.

• Documentation page
• Back to projections homepage

The mid-year estimates refer to the population on 30 June of the reference year and are produced in line with the standard United Nations (UN) definition for population estimates. They are the official set of population estimates for the UK and its constituent countries, the regions and counties of England, and local authorities and their equivalents.

The annual population growth in the United Kingdom stood at 0.82 percent in 2023. Between 1961 and 2023, the population growth rose by 0.06 percentage points, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend.