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.

Annual historical data for UK residents by broad country of birth and citizenship groups, broken down by UK country, local authority, unitary authority, metropolitan and London boroughs, and counties.

The total population in the United Kingdom was estimated at 69.2 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Population - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The population of England was estimated to have reached almost 57.7 million in 2023, compared with 53.9 million ten years earlier in 2013. Compared with 1971, the population of England has grown by over ten million.

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.

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).

According to the 2021 Census, 81.7% of the population of England and Wales was white, 9.3% Asian, 4.0% black, 2.9% mixed and 2.1% from other ethnic groups.

The statistic shows the total population in the United Kingdom from 2015 to 2019, with projections up until 2025. The population grew steadily over this period.

Population of the United Kingdom

Despite a fertility rate just below the replacement rate, the United Kingdom’s population has been slowly but steadily growing, increasing by an average of 0.6 percent every year since 2002. The age distribution has remained roughly the same for the past ten years or so, with the share of the population over 65 years old seeing a slight increase as the baby boomer generation enters into that age bracket. That share is likely to continue growing slightly, as the United Kingdom has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.

The population of the island nation is predominantly white Christians, but a steady net influx of immigrants, part of a legacy of the wide-reaching former British Empire, has helped diversify the population. One of the largest ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom is that of residents of an Indian background, born either in the UK, India, or in other parts of the world. India itself is experiencing problems with rapid population growth, causing some of its population to leave the country in order to find employment. The United Kingdom’s relatively lower levels of unemployment and the historical connection between the two countries (which has also resulted in family connections between individuals) are likely reasons that make it a popular destination for Indian emigrants.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online. Main Topics: Parish level statistics for England, Wales and Scotland taken from the 1801, 1811, 1851, 1891, 1911, 1931 and 1951 censuses. Parish level statistics for England and Wales taken from the 1831 and 1871 censuses. Parish level statistics for England taken from the 1821 and 1841 censuses. Parish level statistics for Scotland taken from the 1881 census. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research. Purposive selection/case studies Transcription of existing materials Compilation or synthesis of existing material

In 2023, the population of the United Kingdom was around **** million, with approximately **** million women and **** million men. Since 1953, the male population of the UK has grown by around *** million, while the female population has increased by approximately *** million. Throughout this provided time period, the female population of the UK has consistently outnumbered the male population. UK population one of the largest in Europe As of 2022, the population of the United Kingdom was the largest it has ever been, and with growth expected to continue, the forecasted population of the United Kingdom is expected to reach over ** million by the 2030s. Despite the relatively small size of its territory, the UK has one of the largest populations among European countries, slightly larger than France but smaller than Russia and Germany. As of 2022, the population density of the UK was approximately *** people per square kilometer, with London by far the most densely populated area, and Scotland the most sparsely populated. Dominance of London As seen in the data regarding population density, the population of the United Kingdom is not evenly distributed across the country. Within England, London has a population of almost **** million, making it significantly bigger than the next largest cities of Birmingham and Manchester. As of 2022, Scotland's largest city, Glasgow had a population of around *** million, with the largest cities in Northern Ireland, and Wales being Belfast and Cardiff, which had populations of ******* and ******* respectively.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online. Main Topics: Registration District Population Totals, 1851-1911 according to Decennial Supplements and Censuses reports. Inter-censal Population Changes (births, marriages, deaths) for Registration Districts, 1851-1911 considering boundary changes. Inter-censal population changes for Twentieth Century Local Government Districts arranged by sex. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research. No sampling (total universe) Transcription of existing materials Compilation or synthesis of existing material

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online. These data were originally collected by the Censuses of Population for England and Wales, and for Scotland. They were computerised by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and its collaborators. They form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales. The census gathered data on levels of educational attainment only from 1951. In 1951 and 1961, attainment was measured simply by the age at which a person's education was completed, rather than by the level of qualifications achieved. These data cover, broadly, the adult population, including many people who had completed their education decades before the relevant census, so the data are indicative of the general level of education of the workforce at the census date, but are a problematic guide to the performance of the education system at that date. The census reports also include cross-tabulations of age of education completion with current age, but not with the level of geographical detail of the transcribed tables. The 1951 data for England and Wales were computerised by Danny Dorling (now of Oxford University), as part of research funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Latest edition information:For the 2nd edition (June 2021), data for Scotland for 1951 and data for England & Wales and Scotland for 1961 have been added to the study. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE / Style Definitions / table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} Main Topics: Level of education of the adult or occupied population, measured by their age at termination of education. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research. Purposive selection/case studies

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.

Urban population (% of total population) in United Kingdom was reported at 84.88 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United Kingdom - Urban population (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on September of 2025.

In the past four centuries, the population of the Thirteen Colonies and United States of America has grown from a recorded 350 people around the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1610, to an estimated 346 million in 2025. While the fertility rate has now dropped well below replacement level, and the population is on track to go into a natural decline in the 2040s, projected high net immigration rates mean the population will continue growing well into the next century, crossing the 400 million mark in the 2070s. Indigenous population Early population figures for the Thirteen Colonies and United States come with certain caveats. Official records excluded the indigenous population, and they generally remained excluded until the late 1800s. In 1500, in the first decade of European colonization of the Americas, the native population living within the modern U.S. borders was believed to be around 1.9 million people. The spread of Old World diseases, such as smallpox, measles, and influenza, to biologically defenseless populations in the New World then wreaked havoc across the continent, often wiping out large portions of the population in areas that had not yet made contact with Europeans. By the time of Jamestown's founding in 1607, it is believed the native population within current U.S. borders had dropped by almost 60 percent. As the U.S. expanded, indigenous populations were largely still excluded from population figures as they were driven westward, however taxpaying Natives were included in the census from 1870 to 1890, before all were included thereafter. It should be noted that estimates for indigenous populations in the Americas vary significantly by source and time period. Migration and expansion fuels population growth The arrival of European settlers and African slaves was the key driver of population growth in North America in the 17th century. Settlers from Britain were the dominant group in the Thirteen Colonies, before settlers from elsewhere in Europe, particularly Germany and Ireland, made a large impact in the mid-19th century. By the end of the 19th century, improvements in transport technology and increasing economic opportunities saw migration to the United States increase further, particularly from southern and Eastern Europe, and in the first decade of the 1900s the number of migrants to the U.S. exceeded one million people in some years. It is also estimated that almost 400,000 African slaves were transported directly across the Atlantic to mainland North America between 1500 and 1866 (although the importation of slaves was abolished in 1808). Blacks made up a much larger share of the population before slavery's abolition. Twentieth and twenty-first century The U.S. population has grown steadily since 1900, reaching one hundred million in the 1910s, two hundred million in the 1960s, and three hundred million in 2007. Since WWII, the U.S. has established itself as the world's foremost superpower, with the world's largest economy, and most powerful military. This growth in prosperity has been accompanied by increases in living standards, particularly through medical advances, infrastructure improvements, clean water accessibility. These have all contributed to higher infant and child survival rates, as well as an increase in life expectancy (doubling from roughly 40 to 80 years in the past 150 years), which have also played a large part in population growth. As fertility rates decline and increases in life expectancy slows, migration remains the largest factor in population growth. Since the 1960s, Latin America has now become the most common origin for migrants in the U.S., while immigration rates from Asia have also increased significantly. It remains to be seen how immigration restrictions of the current administration affect long-term population projections for the United States.

This computerised transcription of the census enumerators' books for the 1881 Census for England, Scotland and Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man is a by-product of a project to create a microfiche index of the population of Great Britain for genealogists. Covering the entire enumerated population of England, Scotland and Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man in 1881, it is the largest collection of historical source material to be made available in computerised form. The data consists of the name, address, relationship to the head of household, marital status, age, occupation and birthplace of some 26 million individuals, together with information about disabilities.
In 1999 the Genealogical Society of Utah published a version of this computerised transcription as a CD-ROM product suitable for genealogical research (Genealogical Society of Utah (1999) 1881 British census and national index. [25 CDs]. Salt Lake City, Utah: GSU). This study is an enriched version of these data. The sample is a 5 per cent random sample of the parishes of Great Britain. The sample was chosen in the simplest manner possible. A list of all the parishes in England, Wales, Scotland and the Islands in the British Seas was created; using a random number generator in Microsoft Excel, a random number between zero and one was allocated to each parish. All those less than or equal to 0.05 were selected for the sample. The records relating to the individuals in each of these parishes were then extracted from the data and combined in a database.

Tables B1 and B3 in Appendix B of the documentation list the 716 parishes in the sample.

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

These data were originally collected by the Censuses of Population for England and Wales, and for Scotland. They were computerised by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and its collaborators.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (October 2022), the data and documentation have been revised.

The purpose of the project was to provide machine-readable economic and social history statistics relating to the whole of Ireland for the period 1821-1971. Further information about the project is available on the QUB Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis website.

This machine-readable version of John Williams' Digest of Welsh Historical Statistics is the result of a collaboration between the Statistical Directorate of the National Assembly for Wales, the History Data Service and the Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis at Queen's University Belfast.
John Williams' Digest of Welsh Historical Statistics is intended to provide a service for those working on the history of modern Wales. It arises from a belief that the quantitative element is a necessary and important part of the historical record; from an awareness that it was an aspect that was particularly inaccessible for scholars of Welsh history; and from a conviction that some encouragement in the use of quantitative material was necessary. It is modelled on the two volumes dedicated to British historical statistics: Mitchell, B.R. and Deane, P. (1962) Abstract of British historical statistics and Mitchell, B.R. and Jones, H.G. (1971) Second abstract of British historical statistics.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. These data formed the basis of a reconstruction of English population history from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, published as The population history of England, 1541-1871: a reconstruction (1981) by E.A. Wrigley and R.S. Schofield. Main Topics: The data comprise aggregated monthly totals of baptisms, marriages and burials for 404 English parishes from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. For each parish monthly and annual totals are provided, along with monthly and annual totals by decade. There are also monthly seasonality indexes by half-century. Where defective data have been replaced with corrected frequencies, the original data have also been reproduced. Summary information has also been provided about periods of epidemic mortality crisis in each parish, and the severity of the epidemic. There is also information about the characteristics of each of the parishes included in the study. These characteristics include: the parish's location, altitude, population in 1811, main farming and soil types, occupational structure, proximity to towns, representation in Parliament, and indicators of poverty, religious activity and the provision of education. Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research. No sampling (total universe) Transcription of existing materials