Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the West Yorkshire, UK metro area from 1950 to 2025.

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.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aims of this project were to:

• understand the demographic changes that United Kingdom local ethnic populations are presently experiencing and are likely to experience in the remainder of the 21st century
• understand the impact that international migration is having on the size and ethnic composition of UK local populations
• understand the role that differences in fertility between the UK's ethnic groups plays in shaping current and future trends
• understand the role that mortality differences between ethnic groups is playing in the changing demography of the UK's local populations
• understand how the ethnic diversity of UK local populations is changing and likely to change in the future
• deliver the projections as a resource for use by social science in the UK
• build capacity in the analysis of demographic change through the development of young and middle career researchers
• tap into the best practice internationally to benefit the UK social science community.

To achieve the project aims, the objectives were to:

• build projections of the populations of ethnic groups for UK local areas
• use the population projection model to explore alternative futures.

The project built a model for projecting the ethnic group populations of UK Local Authorities (LAs), which handles 352 LAs, 16 ethnic groups, 102 ages and 2 sexes. To drive the projections, estimates of the components of ethnic change were prepared for 2001-7. A new method produced UK estimates of ethnic life expectancy, ranging from 82 years for Chinese women to 77 for Pakistani. A future 2% decline in mortality per annum was assumed. Ethnic fertility estimates showed that only Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had total fertility rates above replacement. Small declines in fertility were forecast. New estimates of the local distribution of immigration were made, using administrative data, because of concerns about official figures. The ethnicity of both immigrants and emigrants for local areas was projected. Estimates were constructed of the ethnic group probabilities for internal in- and out-migration for LAs using 2001 Census data. These probabilities were assumed constant in the future, as migration was stable between 2001 and 2008. Five projections were produced. Two benchmark projections, using constant inputs from 2001-2, forecast the UK population would be 62 and 56 million in 2051.The official projection reports 77 million. The Trend projection, aligned to ONS assumptions projected 78 million for 2051. Using revised assumptions 80 million was projected in a fourth projection. When the model for emigration was changed the projected population was only 71 million. All projections showed ageing and dispersion of ethnic minorities. By 2051 the UK will have a larger, more diverse and integrated population.

For further information about the project, see documentation and the What happens when international migrants settle? Ethnic group population trends and projections for UK local areas under alternative scenarios ESRC award page.


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For full details of the individual files (and topics covered) within the study, see documentation files '6777_list_of_files.xlsx' and '6777_fileinformation.pdf' in the Documentation table below.

Users should note that this study is very large - c.8GB. Multiple files have been created for download, according to the type of compilation - benchef, bencher, trendef, uptapef and uptaper (see 6777_fileinformation.pdf for details). To obtain all files contained within the study, users should download all zip files.

London was by far the largest urban agglomeration in the United Kingdom in 2023, with an estimated population of 9.65 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 the Russian capital Moscow having a population of almost 12.7 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 11.2 million people. Paris was followed by London in terms of population-size, and then by the Spanish cities of Madrid and Barcelona, at 6.75 million and 5.68 million people respectively. Russia's second-biggest city; St. Petersburg had a population of 5.56 million, followed by Rome at 4.3 million, and Berlin at 3.5 million. London’s population growth Throughout the 1980s, the population of London fluctuated from a high of 6.81 million people in 1981 to a low of 6.73 million inhabitants in 1988. During the 1990s, the population of London increased once again, growing from 6.8 million at the start of the decade to 7.15 million by 1999. London's population has continued to grow since the turn of the century, reaching a peak of 8.96 million people in 2019, and is forecast to reach 9.8 million by 2043.

The latest population figures produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 28 June 2018 show that an estimated 534,800 people live in Bradford District – an increase of 2,300 people (0.4%) since the previous year.

Bradford District is the fifth largest metropolitan district (in terms of population) in England, after Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester although the District’s population growth is lower than other major cities.

The increase in the District’s population is largely due to “natural change”- there have been around 3,300 more births than deaths, although this has been balanced by a larger number of people leaving Bradford to live in other parts of the UK than coming to live here and a lower number of international migrants. In 2016/17 the net internal migration was -2,700 and the net international migration was 1,700.

A large proportion of Bradford’s population is dominated by the younger age groups. More than one-quarter (29%) of the District’s population is aged less than 20 and nearly seven in ten people are aged less than 50. Bradford has the highest percentage of the under 16 population in England after the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Slough Borough Council and Luton Borough Council.

The population of Bradford is ethnically diverse. The largest proportion of the district’s population (63.9%) identifies themselves as White British. The district has the largest proportion of people of Pakistani ethnic origin (20.3%) in England.

The largest religious group in Bradford is Christian (45.9% of the population). Nearly one quarter of the population (24.7%) are Muslim. Just over one fifth of the district’s population (20.7%) stated that they had no religion.

There are 216,813 households in the Bradford district. Most households own their own home (29.3% outright and 35.7% with a mortgage). The percentage of privately rented households is 18.1%. 29.6% of households were single person households.

Information from the Annual Population Survey in December 2017 found that Bradford has 228,100 people aged 16-64 in employment. At 68% this is significantly lower than the national rate (74.9%). 91,100 (around 1 in 3 people) aged 16-64, are not in work. The claimant count rate is 2.9% which is higher than the regional and national averages.

Skill levels are improving with 26.5% of 16 to 74 year olds educated to degree level. 18% of the district’s employed residents work in retail/wholesale. The percentage of people working in manufacturing has continued to decrease from 13.4% in 2009 to 11.9% in 2016. This is still higher than the average for Great Britain (8.1%).

The 2001 Area Classification of output areas is used to group together geographic areas according to key characteristics common to the population in that grouping. These groupings are called clusters, and are derived using 2001 population census data. This is a new classification produced using the same principles but a different statistical methodology from that used to produce the other area classifications.

This data package presents the data for the 24,140 Census Output Areas in Greater London but data for the UK is also available (see Download URL below).

For further guidance, advice and to see case studies using the 2001 OAC data, visit the OAC User Groups website: http://areaclassification.org.uk/

If you have any queries about or problems accessing any of the data please let Leeds University know: E-mail comments or queries to d.vickers@sheffield.ac.uk or visit their website.

*Please note that the Output Area cluster names (e.g. 'City Living') are not a national statistic and endorsed by ONS, these have been created and added by the University of Leeds to add further meaning to the classification.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Even after imputation of missing households, the UK’s 1991 Census counts were lower than expected. In the 1990s, the ESRC-funded Estimating with Confidence project (EwC) distributed official non-response data for local authority districts on a small area-specific basis to allow for under-enumeration, timing changes between census day and the mid-year, armed forces adjustments and the transfer of students from home to term-time addresses. The EwC-enhanced census counts became accepted as the ‘gold standard’ for mid-1991 small area populations and have been widely used in academic and government research.

Following the 2001 Census, evidence suggested that previous official upward adjustments to 1991 populations were too large. Revisions were retrospectively made to 1991 non-response in England, Wales and Scotland (GB) and to the official annual time-series of local authority (LA) mid-year population estimates.

Since data for previous populations are needed for sub-district small areas, this project has revised the original EwC non-response allowances (for small areas across GB) and converted the output to more contemporary geographies (for all of UK including Northern Ireland). As a result, the 1991 EwC small area estimates are now consistent and comparable with the 2001 Census population definition and geography and the 1981-2001 official population time-series at LA level across the whole of the UK.

These revised UK-coverage small area population estimates resource will underpin late 20th Century local area social analyses of changes in populations and, for example, changes in health and unemployment rates.

Further information can be found on the ESRC Award web page.

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The study provides complete mid-1991 and mid-2001 population estimates by five year age-groups and sex for Census Area Statistics (CAS) wards across England, Wales and Northern Ireland CAS postal sectors across Scotland.

Cambridge was the fastest growing city in the United Kingdom between 2013 and 2023, with its population increasing by 17.3 percent. Exeter, Milton Keynes, and Peterborough also grew quite fast, with their populations increasing by 15.2 percent, 14.9 percent, and 14 percent, respectively. Largest UK urban areas When looking at cities defined by their urban agglomerations, as of 2023, London had approximately 9.65 million people living there, far larger than any other city in the United Kingdom. The urban agglomeration around the city of Birmingham had a population of approximately 2.67 million, while the urban areas around Manchester and Leeds had populations of 2.79 and 1.92 million respectively. London not only dominated other UK cities in terms of its population, but in its importance to the UK economy. In 2023, the gross domestic product of Greater London was approximately 569 billion British pounds, compared with 101 billion for Greater Manchester, and 85 billion in the West Midlands Metropolitan Area centered around Birmingham. UK population growth In 2023, the overall population of the United Kingdom was estimated to have reached approximately 68.3 million, compared with around 58.9 million in 2000. Since 1970, 2023 was also the year with the highest population growth rate, growing by 0.98 percent, and was at its lowest in 1982 when it shrank by 0.12 percent. Although the UK's birth rate has declined considerably in recent years, immigration to the UK has been high enough to drive population growth in the UK, which has had a positive net migration rate since 1994.

The latest population figures produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 23 June 2016 show that an estimated 531,200 people live in Bradford District – an increase of 3,000 people (0.6%) since the previous year. Bradford District is the fourth largest metropolitan district (in terms of population) in England, after Birmingham, Sheffield and Leeds although the District’s population growth is lower than other major cities. In the last year Bradford’s population has grown at a rate of 0.6% which is faster than the previous three years when the population increased by 0.3% each year. The increase in the District’s population is largely due to “natural change”- there have been around 3,500 more births than deaths, although this has been balanced by a larger number of people leaving Bradford to live in other parts of the UK than coming to live here and a lower number of international migrants. In 2014/15 the net internal migration was -2,900 and the net international migration was 2,500. A large proportion of Bradford’s population is dominated by the younger age groups. More than one-quarter (29%) of the District’s population is aged less than 20 and nearly seven in ten people are aged less than 50. Bradford has the highest percentage of the under 16 population in England after the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and Slough Borough Council. The population of Bradford is ethnically diverse. The largest proportion of the district’s population (63.9%) identifies themselves as White British. The district has the largest proportion of people of Pakistani ethnic origin (20.3%) in England. The largest religious group in Bradford is Christian (45.9% of the population). Nearly one quarter of the population (24.7%) are Muslim. Just over one fifth of the district’s population (20.7%) stated that they had no religion. There are 199, 296 households in the Bradford district. Most households own their own home (29.3% outright and 35.7% with a mortgage). The percentage of privately rented households is 18.1%. 29.6% of households were single person households. Information from the Annual Population Survey in June 2016 found that Bradford has 214,000 people aged 16-64 in employment. At 65.1% this is significantly lower than the national rate (74.0%) 111,100 (around 1 in 3 people) aged 16-64, are not in work. The claimant count rate is 2.7% which is higher than the regional and national averages. Skill levels are improving with 26.8% of 16 to 74 year olds educated to degree level. 16.1% of the district’s employed residents work in retail/wholesale. The percentage of people working in manufacturing has continued to decrease from 13.4% in 2009 to 13% in 2015. This is still higher than the average for Great Britain (8.3%)

This report presents findings from the third (wave 3) in a series of follow up reports to the 2017 Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) survey, conducted in 2022. The sample includes 2,866 of the children and young people who took part in the MHCYP 2017 survey. The mental health of children and young people aged 7 to 24 years living in England in 2022 is examined, as well as their household circumstances, and their experiences of education, employment and services and of life in their families and communities. Comparisons are made with 2017, 2020 (wave 1) and 2021 (wave 2), where possible, to monitor changes over time.

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 687 people per km², is the least densely populated city on the list.

Generation of individual and household level population data for 2001 census output areas in the United Kingdom (UK) has been undertaken by the Modelling and Simulation for e-Social Science (MoSeS) node of the UK National Centre for e-Social Science.

The MoSeS project outlined an approach for creating an individual level demographic model, which involved selecting sets of Samples of Census 2001 Anonymised Records (SARs) to represent aggregate Census Area Statistics (CAS) populations for 2001. This initialised population would then be dynamically modelled or simulated over time.

The datasets created by integrating SARS and CAS form this study.

Further information is available from the Modelling and Simulation for E-Social Sciences ESRC Award webpage and the MoSeS project webpage.

Users should note that the Principal Investigators did not have access to non-anonymised census data and that the assignment of OAs is based on statistical analysis using published data and the SARS only.

By 2047 the population of London is expected to reach 9.97 million people, an increase of almost 699,500 when compared with 2025. While there has been quite a steep rise in its population in recent years, London’s population growth was relatively stagnant throughout the 1980s and even decreased slightly towards the end of that decade. After peaking at 8.89 million in 2019, the population of London has fallen slightly, to 8.8 million by 2021. UK population forecast Like London, the population of the United Kingdom is forecast to continue to grow well into the middle of the century. By 2046, the population of the UK is estimated to be over 76.3 million people, an increase of over 20 million people when compared with the population figures for 1976. Additionally, the average age of the population is predicted to increase from 39.5 years in 2020 to 44.5 years by the mid-2040s, and continue to increase towards the end of the century. London looms large In the UK, London is by far the largest urban agglomeration in the country, dwarfing the UK's next largest cities of Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds. London also has a dominant economic position in the UK, with the city accounting for around a quarter of the total GDP in the country. The UK capital also has a far higher GDP per head than the rest of the county, at over ****** pounds in 2023, compared with the UK average of ****** pounds.

The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) series provides data on the prevalence of both treated and untreated psychiatric disorder in the English adult population (aged 16 and over). This survey is the fourth in a series and was conducted by NatCen Social Research, in collaboration with the University of Leicester, for NHS Digital. The previous surveys were conducted in 1993 (16-64 year olds) and 2000 (16-74 year olds) by the Office for National Statistics, which covered England, Scotland and Wales. The 2007 Survey included people aged over 16 and covered England only. The survey used a robust stratified, multi-stage probability sample of households and assesses psychiatric disorder to actual diagnostic criteria for several disorders. The report features chapters on: common mental disorders, mental health treatment and service use, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotic disorder, autism, personality disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, alcohol, drugs, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and self-harm, and comorbidity. All the APMS surveys have used largely consistent methods. They have been designed so that the survey samples can be combined. This is particularly useful for examination of low prevalence population groups and disorders. For example, in the APMS 2014 survey report, analyses of psychotic disorder (Chapter 5) and autism (Chapter 6) have been run using the 2007 and 2014 samples combined. Due to the larger sample size, we consider estimates based on the combined sample to be the more robust. Further notes on the Autism chapter can be found with that chapter and in the 'Additional notes on autism' document below. NHS Digital carried out a consultation exercise to obtain feedback from users on the APMS publication and statistics. The consultation will inform the design, content and reporting of any future survey. The consultation closed 30 December 2016, findings will be made available by April 2017. You can access the results of consultation when available in the Related Links below. A correction has been made to this publication in September 2017. This correction applies to all statistics relating to people receiving medication for a mental health condition and more widely to people accessing mental health treatment. This correction increases the proportion of adults (aged 16-74) with a common mental disorder accessing mental health treatment in 2014 from 37 per cent to 39 per cent. Overall the proportion of all people receiving mental health treatment in 2014 increases from 12 per cent to 13 per cent. Logistic regression models used in chapter 3 have not been corrected due to the change not being large enough to change the findings of this analysis. A further correction has been made to this publication in February 2018. This correction applies to statistics for Asian/Asian British men and all adults in Table 10.5 - Harmful and dependent drinking in the past year (observed and age-standardised), by ethnic group and sex. Statistics for the number of respondents with an AUDIT score of 16 or over previously incorrectly included only those with an AUDIT score between 16 and 19. This has now been corrected to include respondents with an AUDIT score of 20 or more. NHS Digital apologies for any inconvenience caused.

This graph presents the graduate population of the ten leading business cities in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2016. London and Leeds had a significant lead in the ranking, as 60% of both populations are graduates, compared to 31.6% in Edinburgh, Oxford and York.

In the 2023/24 reporting year, West Yorkshire Police reported a crime rate of 121.7 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 117.7 crimes per 1,000 population, and had the second-highest crime rate during this year.