As of 2024, the population density in London was by far the highest number of people per square km in the UK, at *****. Of the other regions and countries which constitute the United Kingdom, North West England was the next most densely populated area at *** people per square kilometer. Scotland, by contrast, is the most sparsely populated country or region in the United Kingdom, with only ** people per square kilometer. Countries, regions, and cities In 2024, the population of the United Kingdom reached **** million. The majority of people in the UK live in England, which had a population of **** million that year, followed by Scotland at *** million, Wales at **** million and finally Northern Ireland at just over *** million. Within England, the South East was the region with the highest population at almost *** million, followed by London at just over *****million. In terms of cities, London is the largest urban agglomeration in the United Kingdom, followed by Manchester, and then Birmingham, although both these cities combined would still have a smaller population than the UK capital. London calling London's huge size in relation to other UK cities is also reflected by its economic performance. In 2023, London's GDP was over ****billion British pounds, around a quarter of UK's overall GDP. In terms of GDP per capita, Londoners had a GDP per head of ****** pounds, compared with an average of ****** for the country as a whole. Productivity, expressed as by output per hour worked, was also far higher in London than the rest of the country. In 2023, London was around *****percent more productive than the rest of the country, with South East England the only other region where productivity was higher than the national average.

Forecast: Average Number of Rooms Per Person in Rural Areas in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Rural Urban ClassificationThe 2021 RUC is a statistical classification to provide a consistent and standardised method for classifying geographies as rural or urban. This is based on address density, physical settlement form, population size, and Relative Access to Major towns and cities (populations of over 75,000 people). The classification is produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with advice from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Welsh Government and colleagues from the Government Geography Profession (GGP).This is the 2021 rural-urban classification (RUC) of the 2021 Local Authority Districts in England and Wales. This means that the 2021 RUC methodology has been applied to the 2021 LAD boundaries. LAD classifications are divided into four categories based on their populations:<!--1. Majority Rural: had at least 50% of their population residing in Rural OAs.<!--2. Intermediate Rural: 35-50% rural population<!--3. Intermediate Urban: 20-35% rural population<!--4. Urban: 20% or less of the population live in rural OAs.Each 2021 LAD category is split into one of two Relative Access categories, using the same data as the 2021 Output Area RUC. If more than 50% of a LAD population lives in ‘nearer to a major town or city’ OAs, it is deemed ‘nearer a major town or city’; otherwise, it is classified as ‘further from a major town or city.

Where data is unavailable for Super Output Area geographies, it may be appropriate for users to undertake analysis at the LAD level. At this level, the categorisation works slightly differently in that most areas will include a mix of both rural and urban areas - so the LAD RUC categorisation is a reflection of this. A statistical geography may contain substantial portions of open countryside but still be given an ‘Urban’ classification if the majority of the population within the area live in settlements that are urban in nature. Users should take this into consideration to ensure correct interpretations of any analysis of RUC LAD categories

The Scottish Government (SG) Urban Rural Classification provides a consistent way of defining urban and rural areas across Scotland. The classification aids policy development and the understanding of issues facing urban, rural and remote communities. It is based upon two main criteria: (i) population as defined by National Records of Scotland (NRS), and (ii) accessibility based on drive time analysis to differentiate between accessible and remote areas in Scotland. The classification can be analysed in a two, three, six or eight fold form. The two-fold classification simply distinguishes between urban and rural areas through two categories, urban and rural, while the three-fold classification splits the rural category between accessible and remote. Most commonly used is the 6-fold classification which distinguishes between urban, rural, and remote areas through six categories. The 8-fold classification further distinguishes between remote and very remote regions. The Classification is normally updated on a biennial basis, with the current dataset reflective of Census Day 2022. Data for previous versions are available for download in ESRI Shapefile format.

In 2021, it was found that *** percent of survey participants from English urban major conurbations stated that they cycle on at least one occasion per month for leisure purposes. Cycling for leisure once a month was more popular in rural hamlets, with **** percent of survey participants claiming to have done so in 2021.

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

This statistic compares where people in England parked their cars overnight according to rural-urban classification of their residence in 2016. For all types of area the most common place to park a car was on private property, but not in a garage. This was most common for the most rural households. These were also the most likely to park in a garage overnight. This was less likely in urban areas where fewer people own garages.

This is a mixed method data collection. The study is part of the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme. The data result from two RELU projects carried out by the same research team:
• Social and environmental conditions in rural areas (SECRA), 01/10/2004 - 30/09/2005
• Social and environmental inequalities in rural areas (SEIRA), 01/08/2007 -31/07/2009

Both SECRA and SEIRA consist of a series of social and environmental variables for the same 6,027 rural Lower Super Output Areas in England. SECRA is the base dataset produced during the pilot project. The SEIRA dataset contains additional variables. In addition, SEIRA also contains interviews with rural residents on perceptions of inequality and inequity. Interview results revealed that people recognise that rural areas offer limited opportunities for recreation and local services, and a lack of affordable housing.

SECRA: The dataset on social and environmental conditions in rural areas was intended to encourage and enable researchers and policy makers to include both social and environmental perspectives in their consideration of rural problems.

The original objectives of the one-year scoping study to produce the dataset were:
1. to compile a rural sustainability dataset incorporating both socio-economic and
environmental characteristics of rural census output areas in England;
2. to highlight and address the methodological difficulties in working with spatial and
survey data from sources in the social and environmental science domains;
3. to identify the limitations of currently available data for rural areas;
4. to pilot the use of the rural sustainability dataset for classifying rural areas according to socio-economic and environmental conditions and hence allowing the construction of typologies to provide sampling frames for further research and to inform policies for sustainable rural development;
5. to explore the possibilities of extending dataset coverage to Scotland and Northern
Ireland given differences in census data infrastructures and output design processes.

The SECRA dataset has been compiled at the level of the new Super Output Areas (SOAs) for England. The rural extent has been identified from the new Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) definition of urban and rural areas which relies primarily on the morphology and context of settlements.

Further information and documentation for this study may be found through the ESRC Research Catalogue: Developing spatial data for the classification of rural areas.

SEIRA: This research project has investigated the nature and extent of social and environmental inequalities and injustice in rural England addressing the questions:
1. How can we measure rural spatial inequalities in (a) socio-economic and (b) environmental-ecological characteristics of small-scale areas of England?
2. How can inequality measures inform our understanding of the distributions of social and environmental deprivation in rural England?
3. How do rural residents experience the kinds of inequality identified by the research, and what types of inequalities do they perceive as inequitable?
4. Are there identifiable areas of rural England where the potential for environmental and social inequity suggests a need for policy intervention?

Inequality in social, economic and environmental conditions has important implications for individuals or groups of people experiencing its negative effects, but also for society as a whole. In urban areas, poor environments are associated frequently with deprivation and social exclusion. Where the unequal distribution of social and environmental goods is considered unfair, it constitutes social or environmental injustice. This project has quantified inequalities in social and environmental conditions throughout rural England and identified those areas where inequalities are greatest. It has also enhanced understanding of perceptions of inequality and injustice in rural areas. The work shows how rural policy can be refined and targeted to tackle these multi-faceted problems in the most appropriate way for the benefit of society.

Further information for this study may be found through the ESRC Research Catalogue webpage: Social and environmental inequalities in rural areas.

This statistic shows the distribution car or van household ownership in England in 2013/14 according to rural/urban classification. There is a clear correlation between the level of urban development and the percentage of households with no cars, thus those households in the most isolated areas had the most cars and only seven percent of households had none. Only a quarter of households in urban conurbations had two or more cars.

This dataset has been clipped to Stirling Council's Planning Policy BoundaryThe Scottish Government (SG) Urban Rural Classification provides a consistent way of defining urban and rural areas across Scotland. The classification aids policy development and the understanding of issues facing urban, rural and remote communities. It is based upon two main criteria: (i) population as defined by National Records of Scotland (NRS), and (ii) accessibility based on drive time analysis to differentiate between accessible and remote areas in Scotland. The classification can be analysed in a two, three, six or eight fold form. The two-fold classification simply distinguishes between urban and rural areas through two categories, urban and rural, while the three-fold classification splits the rural category between accessible and remote. Most commonly used is the 6-fold classification which distinguishes between urban, rural, and remote areas through six categories. The 8-fold classification further distinguishes between remote and very remote regions. The Classification is normally updated on a biennial basis, with the current dataset reflective of the year 2022.

This file provides a rural-urban view of 2011 electoral wards / divisions. The 2011 rural-urban classification of electoral wards / divisions was released in August 2013. This product was sponsored by a cross-Government working group comprising Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of the Communities and Local Government, Office for National Statistics and the Welsh Government. The classification at electoral wards / divisions level is built from the RUC at OA level (the most detailed version of the classification). Assignments of electoral wards / divisions to urban or rural categories are made by reference to the category to which the majority of their constituent OA are assigned. In the RUC at OA level, output areas are treated as ‘urban’ if they were allocated to a 2011 built-up area with a population of 10,000 or more. The urban domain is then further sub-divided into three broad morphological types based on the predominant settlement component. As with the previous version of the classification, the remaining ‘rural’ output areas are grouped into three broad morphological types based on the predominant settlement component. At the electoral wards / divisions scale settlement form is less homogeneous than at OA level and so there are just two rural settlement types. The classification also categorises output areas based on context – i.e. whether the wider surrounding area of a given output area is sparsely populated or less sparsely populated (File Size 429KB).REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Rural Urban Classification (2011) of Wards in England and Wales_new/FeatureServerREST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Rural Urban Classification (2011) of Wards in England and Wales_new/FeatureServerREST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Rural Urban Classification (2011) of Wards in England and Wales_new/FeatureServer

The 2011 rural-urban classification (RUC) of middle layer super output areas (MSOA) in England and Wales is based on the 2011 RUC of output areas published in August 2013, and allows users to create a rural/urban view of MSOA level products. This product was sponsored by a cross-Government working group comprising Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of the Communities and Local Government, Office for National Statistics and the Welsh Government. The classification at LSOA level is built from the RUC at OA level (the most detailed version of the classification). Assignments of MSOA to urban or rural categories are made by reference to the category to which the majority of their constituent OA are assigned. In the RUC at OA level, output areas are treated as ‘urban’ if they were allocated to a 2011 built-up area with a population of 10,000 or more. The urban domain is then further sub-divided into three broad morphological types based on the predominant settlement component. As with the previous version of the classification, the remaining ‘rural’ output areas are grouped into three broad morphological types based on the predominant settlement component. At the MSOA scale settlement form is less homogenous than at OA level and so there are just two rural settlement types. The classification also categorises output areas based on context – i.e. whether the wider surrounding area of a given output area is sparsely populated or less sparsely populated (File Size 368KB).REST URL of Feature Access Service – https://services1.arcgis.com/ESMARspQHYMw9BZ9/arcgis/rest/services/Rural Urban Classification (2011) of Middle Layer Super Output Areas in England and Wales_new/FeatureServer

This file provides a rural-urban view of 2001 Middle Layer Super Output Areas (MSOA) in England and Wales. The ZIP file contains the Rural Urban Classification in XLSX and CSV format and includes a user guide. The files were originally from the NeSS website. Click on the Download button to download the ZIP file.The classification of rural and urban areas is the outcome of a project co-sponsored by:Office for National Statistics (ONS);Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra);Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now Communities and Local Government);Countryside Agency (CA); andNational Assembly for Wales (NAW).The classification was developed in 2004 by a consortium co-ordinated by Prof. John Shepherd from Birkbeck College. The technical work was lead by Peter Bibby of University of Sheffield and the project also involved the University of Glamorgan and Geowise. The rural and urban classification of Output Areas, Super Output Areas (this dataset) and Wards has been provided to enable datasets to be analysed according to the classification. This provides a powerful tool for the development and monitoring of rural and urban policies.Please Note: Super Output Areas do not have all the same codes as the OA level Dataset. For SOAs and Wards the classifications for ‘Villages, Hamlets and Isolated Dwellings’ have been combined.Similar procedures to those used to classify Output Areas apply to the classification to the 7,194 Middle Layer Super Output Areas in the dataset. However the morphological classification differs in the number of categories as very few MSOAs can be classified as predominantly dispersed settlements. MSOAs are categorised into just three domains: urban 10k, town and fringe and villages, hamlets and isolated dwellings, using the key below:2005 Rural and Urban morphology indicator1 - denotes predominantly urban >10k2 - denotes predominantly town and fringe3 - denotes other rural (including village, hamlet and isolated dwellings)2005 Rural and Urban context indicator0 - denotes less sparsely populated areas1 - denotes sparsely populated areas

The Rural Definition was introduced in 2004 as a joint project between the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC - formerly the Countryside Agency), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the Welsh Assembly. It was delivered by the Rural Evidence Research Centre at Birkbeck College (RERC).A) This new 'spectrum', or graded system, replaces the earlier Oxford/CA binary ward classification and adopts a settlement-based approach.B) It is available for England and Wales at:Census Output Area (COA or OA)Census Super Output Area (CSOA or SOA)Ward[OAs consist of ~125 households and have a population of ~300. SOAs are built of OAs, typically 5, and so contain ~625 households or a mean population of ~1500. OAs therefore vary greatly in size and shape between urban and rural regions, for example a single tower block may consist of more than one OA, whereas a large area of remote moorland may be covered by a single OA.] More information on OAs and SOAs.C) Output areas are classified by morphology and context:MorphologyUrban (over 10,000)Rural townVillageDispersed (hamlets and isolated dwellings)And contextSparseLess sparseThis gives 8 Urban/Rural Classification (1 urban and 6 rural):Urban (Sparse)Urban (Less Sparse)Town (Less Sparse)Town (Sparse)Village (Less Sparse)Village (Sparse)Dispersed (Less Sparse)Dispersed (Sparse)In April 2009 significant changes in the structure of local government came into force. These changes, especially the creation of 9 new unitary authorities, have necessitated an update to the Local Authority Classification. The Government Statistical Service Regional and Geography Group (GSSRG) commissioned a working group to look at this issue, and the outcome of this working group is a revised LA Classification. Detailed information about the changes can be found here, with guidance on how to use the Definition and Classification here.

This file provides a rural-urban view of 2011 electoral wards / divisions. The 2011 rural-urban classification of electoral wards / divisions was released in August 2013. This product was sponsored by a cross-Government working group comprising Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of the Communities and Local Government, Office for National Statistics and the Welsh Government. The classification at electoral wards / divisions level is built from the RUC at OA level (the most detailed version of the classification). Assignments of electoral wards / divisions to urban or rural categories are made by reference to the category to which the majority of their constituent OA are assigned. In the RUC at OA level, output areas are treated as ‘urban’ if they were allocated to a 2011 built-up area with a population of 10,000 or more. The urban domain is then further sub-divided into three broad morphological types based on the predominant settlement component. As with the previous version of the classification, the remaining ‘rural’ output areas are grouped into three broad morphological types based on the predominant settlement component. At the electoral wards / divisions scale settlement form is less homogeneous than at OA level and so there are just two rural settlement types. The classification also categorises output areas based on context – i.e. whether the wider surrounding area of a given output area is sparsely populated or less sparsely populated (File Size 429KB).