As of 2019, the population of the London metropolitan area was approximately 14.37 million people, an increase of 2.3 million when compared with 2002. The London metropolitan area covers an area that is larger than Greater London, and includes areas from which it is possible to commute to London for work.

The population of London was approximately *** million in 2023, an increase of over *** million people when compared with the early 1980s. Throughout the 1980s, the population of the United Kingdom's capital grew at a relatively slow rate, before accelerating to a much faster rate in the 1990s. London is by far the largest city / urban agglomeration in the United Kingdom, more than three times larger than the next largest cities of Manchester and Birmingham. London’s forecasted population is expected to continue growing at much the same pace it has been growing since the mid-1990s and reach almost *** million by 2042. London boroughs As of 2022, the London borough with the highest population was Croydon, at approximately *******, followed by Barnet at *******. Overall, London is divided into 33 different boroughs, with London's historic center, the City of London, having by far the smallest population, at just ******. Residents of the City of London, however, have the highest average median weekly earnings among all of London's boroughs, at ***** pounds per week, compared with just *** pounds per week in Redbridge, the lowest average weekly earnings among London boroughs. While the overall unemployment rate for London was *** percent in early 2023, this ranged from *** percent in Brent, to just *** percent in Kingston upon Thames.
Economic imbalance Aside from being the UK's largest city in terms of population, London is also undoubtedly the UK's cultural, political and economic center. As of 2021, the GDP of Greater London was approximately ***** billion British pounds, just over ** percent of the UK's overall GDP. In the same year, GDP per person in London was ****** pounds compared with the UK average of ****** pounds. Additionally, productivity in London is far higher than the UK average. As measured by output per hour worked, London was **** percent more productive than the rest of the UK.

This report examines the demographic evidence around trends in the population of young children (age 0 to 10) in London. We used data from official sources to examine patterns in components of population change – births, domestic migration, and international migration – as well as population characteristics such as housing tenure. 

The audience is intended to be those working in central, regional or local government, or in civil society, who need the findings for planning.

Note added 24/7/24: There was a mistake in the report uploaded on 9/7/24. Chart 2.2B has been replaced by the correct version. This is the only difference between the original and current versions of the report.

In 2023, Croydon had the largest population among London's 32 boroughs at 397,741, while Kensington and Chelsea had the smallest population, at 147,460.

This report was released in September 2010. However, recent demographic data is available on the datastore - you may find other datasets on the Datastore useful such as: GLA Population Projections, National Insurance Number Registrations of Overseas Nationals, Births by Birthplace of Mother, Births and Fertility Rates, Office for National Statistics (ONS) Population Estimates

FOCUSON**LONDON**2010:**POPULATION**AND**MIGRATION**

London is the United Kingdom’s only city region. Its population of 7.75 million is 12.5 per cent of the UK population living on just 0.6 per cent of the land area. London’s average population density is over 4,900 persons per square kilometre, this is ten times that of the second most densely populated region.

Between 2001 and 2009 London’s population grew by over 430 thousand, more than any other region, accounting for over 16 per cent of the UK increase.

This report discusses in detail the population of London including Population Age Structure, Fertility and Mortality, Internal Migration, International Migration, Population Turnover and Churn, and Demographic Projections.

Population and Migration report is the first release of the Focus on London 2010-12 series. Reports on themes such as Income, Poverty, Labour Market, Skills, Health, and Housing are also available.

REPORT:

Read the full report in PDF format.

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PRESENTATION:

To access an interactive presentation about population changes in London click the link to see it on Prezi.com

DATA:

To access a spreadsheet with all the data from the Population and Migration report click on the image below.

Report data

MAP:

To enter an interactive map showing a number of indicators discussed in the Population and Migration report click on the image below.

Interactive Maps

FACTS:

● Top five boroughs for babies born per 10,000 population in 2008-09:

1. Newham – 244.4
2. Barking and Dagenham – 209.3
3. Hackney – 205.7
4. Waltham Forest – 202.7
5. Greenwich – 196.2

-32. Havering – 116.8

-33. City of London – 47.0

● In 2009, Barnet overtook Croydon as the most populous London borough. Prior to this Croydon had been the largest since 1966

● Population per hectare of land used for Domestic building and gardens is highest in Tower Hamlets

● In 2008-09, natural change (births minus deaths) led to 78,000 more Londoners compared with only 8,000 due to migration. read more about this or click play on the chart below to reveal how regional components of populations change have altered over time.

Land area and population density figures for 2001 to 2050 for wards and boroughs. Ward data begins in 2011. Population figure included are GLA estimate (2016-based projections), 2011 Census and ONS Mid-year Estimates. GLA figures are based on GLA population projections. Select which year you require from the drop-down box in the spreadsheet. Inland area takes account of water line. Areas with large bodies of water will have a smaller inland area than total area since some of the area will be water. Land area figures are taken from Ordnance Survey boundaries using MapInfo.

There were ******* people living in London who were aged between 25 and 29 in 2023, the most of any group. The four largest age cohorts were all clustered between the ages of 25 and 44.

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.

Excel Age-Range creator for Office for National Statistics (ONS) Mid year population estimates (MYE) covering each year between 1999 and 2016 These files take into account the revised estimates for 2002-2010 released in April 2013 down to Local Authority level and the post 2011 estimates based on the Census results. Scotland and Northern Ireland data has not been revised, so Great Britain and United Kingdom totals comprise the original data for these plus revised England and Wales figures. This Excel based tool enables users to query the single year of age raw data so that any age range can easily be calculated without having to carry out often complex, and time consuming formulas that could also be open to human error. Simply select the lower and upper age range for both males and females and the spreadsheet will return the total population for the range. Please adhere to the terms and conditions of supply contained within the file. Tip: You can copy and paste the rows you are interested in to another worksheet by using the filters at the top of the columns and then select all by pressing Ctrl+A. Then simply copy and paste the cells to a new location. ONS Mid year population estimates Open Excel tool (London Boroughs, Regions and National, 1999-2016) Also available is a custom-age tool for all geographies in the UK. Open the tool for all UK geographies (local authority and above) for: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. This full MYE dataset by single year of age (SYA) age and gender is available as a Datastore package here. Ward Level Population estimates Single year of age population tool for 2002 to 2015 for all wards in London. New 2014 Ward boundary estimates Ward boundary changes in May 2014 only affected three London boroughs - Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, and Tower Hamlets. The estimates between 2001-2013 have been calculated by the GLA by taking the proportion of a the old ward that falls within the new ward based on the proportion of population living in each area at the 2011 Census. Therefore, these estimates are purely indicative and are not official statistics and not endorsed by ONS. From 2014 onwards, ONS began publishing official estimates for the new ward boundaries. Download here.

Daytime population - The estimated number of people in a borough in the daytime during an average day, broken down by component sub-groups. The figures given are an average day during school term-time. No account has been made for seasonal variations, or for people who are usually in London (resident, at school or working), but are away visiting another place. Sources include the Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) (available under license), Annual Population Survey (APS), 2011 Census, Department for Education (DfE), International Passenger Survey (IPS), GB Tourism Survey (GBTS), Great Britain Day Visit Survey (GBDVS), GLA Population Projections, and GLA Economics estimates (GLAE). The figures published in these sources have been used exactly as they appear - no further adjustments have been made to account for possible sampling errors or questionnaire design flaws. Day trip visitors are defined as those on day trips away from home for three hours or more and not undertaking activities that would regularly constitute part of their work or would be a regular leisure activity. International visitors – people from a country other than the UK visiting the location; Domestic overnight tourists – people from other parts of the UK staying in the location for at least one night. All visitor data is modelled and unrounded. This edition was released on 7 October 2015 and replaces the previous estimates for 2013. GLA resident population, 2011 Census resident population, and 2011 Census workday populations (by sex) included for comparison. See a visualisation of this data using Tableau. For more workday population data by age use the Custom Age-Range Tool for Census 2011 Workday population , or download data for a range of geographical levels from NOMIS.

In 2015 London's population surpassed its previous peak of 8.6 million people. This dataset contains an excel workbook showing borough population estimates and projections for the period 1939 - 2039 and a brief summary of population change in the capital.

This MSOA atlas provides a summary of demographic and related data for each Middle Super Output Area in Greater London. The average population of an MSOA in London in 2010 was 8,346, compared with 1,722 for an LSOA and 13,078 for a ward.

The profiles are designed to provide an overview of the population in these small areas by combining a range of data on the population, births, deaths, health, housing, crime, commercial property/floorspace, income, poverty, benefits, land use, environment, deprivation, schools, and employment.

If you need to find an MSOA and you know the postcode of the area, the ONS NESS search page has a tool for this.

The MSOA Atlas is available as an XLS as well as being presented using InstantAtlas mapping software. This is a useful tool for displaying a large amount of data for numerous geographies, in one place (requires HTML 5).

CURRENT MSOA BOUNDARIES (2011)

PREVIOUS MSOA BOUNDARIES (2001)

NB. It is currently not possible to export the map as a picture due to a software issue with the Google Maps background. We advise you to print screen to copy an image to the clipboard.

Tips:

1. - Select a new indicator from the Data box on the left. Select the theme, then indicator and then year to show the data.

2. - To view data just for one borough*, use the filter tool.

3. - The legend settings can be altered by clicking on the pencil icon next to the MSOA tick box within the map legend.

4. - The areas can be ranked in order by clicking at the top of the indicator column of the data table.

Themes included here are Census 2011 Population, Mid-year Estimates, Population by Broad Age, Households, Household composition, Ethnic Group, Country of Birth, Language, Religion, Tenure, Dwelling type, Land Area, Population Density, Births, General Fertility Rate, Deaths, Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR), Population Turnover Rates (per 1000), Crime (numbers), Crime (rates), House Prices, Commercial property (number), Rateable Value (£ per m2), Floorspace; ('000s m2), Household Income, Household Poverty, County Court Judgements (2005), Qualifications, Economic Activity, Employees, Employment, Claimant Count, Pupil Absence, Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, GCSE and Equivalent, Health, Air Emissions, Car or Van availability, Income Deprivation, Central Heating, Incidence of Cancer, Life Expectancy, and Road Casualties.

• The London boroughs are: City of London, Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster.

These profiles were created using the most up to date information available at the time of collection (Spring 2014).

You may also be interested in LSOA Atlas and Ward Atlas.

A number of characteristics of individuals are protected under the 2010 Equality Act, in order to limit the discrimination and disadvantage of groups with one or several shared characteristics. This table brings together a range of sources to present estimates of London's population by gender, age, ethnicity, religion, disability status, country of birth and sexual identity. It also shows population breakdowns for subgroups in each of these categories by broad age group and ethnicity.

The socio-economic position of individuals is not a protected characteristic, but is nonetheless an important factor affecting outcomes. The table therefore also includes social class.

The latest update showcases London's population as in 2023.

This Update from the GLA Intelligence Unit analyses the ONS 2014 mid-year population estimates and associated components of change focussing on London and comparing these to ONS and GLA population projections.

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 2016-based population projections are the most recent set of GLA projections. These projections will form part of the evidence based for the Mayor's new London Plan. Note: These outputs contain data for London only. Documentation Reports on the results of the 2016-based population projections can be found on the documentation pages ( click here ). A methodology paper for the GLA trend model is also available ( click here ). National Projections The full outputs which comprise populations, detailed components of change, and households for all authorities in England plus national projections for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are also available for download ( click here ). Household Projections Household projections consistent with these population outputs are also available ( click here ). Housing-led population projections 2016-based housing-led projections incorportaing the 2017 SHLAA are scheduled for release in Autumn 2017. Until this release the Interim 2015-based housing-led and small area projections remain the most current ( click here ).

IMPORTANT NOTE: These projections have been superceded, please see https://data.london.gov.uk/demography/ for the latest GLA projections. The 2013 round of projections featured a large number of variants including: Three variants of trend-based projection (Central, High, Low) that used different migration assumptions and which were used to inform the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) and Further Alterations to the London Plan (FALP). A further trend-based projection that took the migration assumptions from the Central projection, but updated the fertility assumptions to be in line with assumptions taken from ONS’s 2012-based National Population Projections. Two variants of development-linked projections using development trajectories derived from the 2013 Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment. These variants make use of different methodologies to incorporate development data into the population projections. Two Updates were released as part of the 2013 round. These detailed results and methodologies for the initial projection releases. The capped-household size model was released subsequently in response to demand from colleagues in some local authorities. An explanation of this and other methodologies is presented in the Technical Note. For general use, the GLA advises the use of the SHLAA-based projection using the capped household size model. This gives rise to a broadly similar total population for London as the Central trend-based projection used in the SHMA/FALP, but with a geographical distribution of population growth that better reflects likely future development. For the 2013 round, the decision was made to release the results of the ward-based projections by single year of age and gender, rather than in five-year age bands as in previous years. This change was to allow users to aggregate to the age bands of interest to them. It is important to note that the provision of these projections by single year of age and at unit level is to facilitate their subsequent use and is not an indication of their level of accuracy. Users should be aware that small area population estimates and projections are subject to high levels of uncertainty and potential inaccuracy. The custom-age population tool is here .

The LSOA atlas provides a summary of demographic and related data for each Lower Super Output Area in Greater London. The average population of an LSOA in London in 2010 was 1,722 compared with 8,346 for an MSOA and 13,078 for a ward. The profiles are designed to provide an overview of the population in these small areas by combining a range of data on the population, diversity, households, health, housing, crime, benefits, land use, deprivation, schools, and employment. Due to significant population change in some areas, not all 2011 LSOA boundaries are the same as previous LSOA boundaries that had been used from 2001. A lot of data is still only available using the 2001 boundaries therefore two Atlases have been created - one using the current LSOA boundaries (2011) and one using the previous boundaries (2001). If you need to find an LSOA and you know the postcode of the area, the ONS NESS search page has a tool for this. The LSOA Atlas is available as an XLS as well as being presented using InstantAtlas mapping software. This is a useful tool for displaying a large amount of data for numerous geographies, in one place (requires HTML 5). CURRENT LSOA BOUNDARIES (2011) NOTE: There is comparatively less data for the new boundaries compared with the old boundaries PREVIOUS LSOA BOUNDARIES (2001) For 2011 Census data used in the 2001 Boundaries Atlas: For simplicity, where two or more areas have been merged, the figures for these areas have been divided by the number of LSOAs that used to make that area up. Therefore, these data are not official ONS statisitcs, but presented here as indicative to display trends. NB. It is currently not possible to export the map as a picture due to a software issue with the Google Maps background. We advise you to print screen to copy an image to the clipboard. IMPORTANT: Due to the large amount of data and areas, the LSOA Atlas may take up to a minute to fully load. Once loaded, the report will work more efficiently by using the filter tool and selecting one borough at a time. Displaying every LSOA in London will slow down the data reload. Tips: - Select a new indicator from the Data box on the left. Select the theme, then indicator and then year to show the data. - To view data just for one borough, use the filter tool. - The legend settings can be altered by clicking on the pencil icon next to the LSOA tick box within the map legend. - The areas can be ranked in order by clicking at the top of the indicator column of the data table. Beware of large file size for 2001 Boundary Atlas (58MB) alternatively download Zip file (21MB). Themes included in the atlases are Census 2011 population, Mid-year Estimates by age, Population Density, Households, Household Composition, Ethnic Group, Language, Religion, Country of Birth, Tenure, Number of dwellings, Vacant Dwellings, Dwellings by Council Tax Band, Crime (numbers), Crime (rates), Economic Activity, Qualifications, House Prices, Workplace employment numbers, Claimant Count, Employment and Support Allowance, Benefits claimants, State Pension, Pension Credit, Incapacity Benefit/ SDA, Disability Living Allowance, Income Support, Financial vulnerability, Health and Disability, Land use, Air Emissions, Energy consumption, Car or Van access, Accessibility by Public Transport/walk, Road Casualties, Child Benefit, Child Poverty, Lone Parent Families, Out-of-Work families, Fuel Poverty, Free School Meals, Pupil Absence, Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, GCSE, Level 3 (e.g A/AS level), The Indices of Deprivation 2010, Economic Deprivation Index, and The IMD 2010 Underlying Indicators. The London boroughs are: City of London, Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster. These profiles were created using the most up to date information available at the time of collection (Spring 2014). You may also be interested in MSOA Atlas and Ward Atlas.

Estimates of London's population between 1801 and 2001 (persons present 1801 to 1991 and residents for 2001 onwards) derived from historic Census data.

Sources: years to 1971 - Greater London Council Research Memorandum 413, The Changing Population of the London Boroughs; 1981 Census Small Area Statistics, Table 1; 1991 Census Small Area Statistics, Table 1. Figure for Year-1939 is a mid-year estimate for the year 1939. Figure for Year-2001 onwards is the number of residents because the number of persons present is not available from 2001. Note that totals for Greater London may not match due to rounding errors. Figures are estimates to the nearest thousand.

This report from the GLA Intelligence Unit compares 2011 census estimates of the population aged 0-18 to the following alternative data sources: • ONS 2010 based sub-national population projections (SNPP); • GLA 2011 round population projections; • General Practitioner registrations; and • Child benefit claims. The report is available to download here. An Excel file containing the data behind charts and tables in the report is available to download here