The population of the United Kingdom grew by 0.98 percent in 2023, the fastest annual growth rate during this time period. Before 2023, the UK population grew at its fastest rate in 2011 (0.84 percent) and shrank the most in 1982 (-0.12 percent.)

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.

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.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the London, UK metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

An updated version of this dataset is available at: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations_in_england Overall breeding bird populations in England have changed little compared with 40 years ago. In 2010 they were just above what they were in 1970, following a small decline of 1.5 per cent in the most recent five years, from 2004 to 2009. However this masks considerable variation between individual bird species and groups of species that share the same broad habitats.

UK wild bird populations is now available from here: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/wild_bird_populations

This statistic shows the distribution of elderly population (aged 65 and over) as a share of population in the United Kingdom (UK) from 1976 to 2046. Over this 70 year period the share of elderly people within the population of the UK is expected to increase by over 10 percent, reaching 24.7 percent of the forecast total population of 2046.

United Kingdom UK: Population: Female: Ages 30-34: % of Female Population data was reported at 6.727 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.712 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Population: Female: Ages 30-34: % of Female Population data is updated yearly, averaging 6.541 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.960 % in 1997 and a record low of 5.669 % in 1970. United Kingdom UK: Population: Female: Ages 30-34: % of Female Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population between the ages 30 to 34 as a percentage of the total female population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Total: From 15 to 64 Years for United Kingdom (LFWA64TTGBQ647S) from Q1 1971 to Q4 2024 about working-age, 15 to 64 years, United Kingdom, and population.

The statistic depicts the median age of the population in the United Kingdom from 1950 to 2100*. The median age of a population is an index that divides the population into two equal groups: half of the population is older than the median age and the other half younger. In 2020, the median age of United Kingdom's population was 39.2 years. Population of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom (UK) includes Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland, and is a state located off the coast of continental Europe. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, which means the Queen acts as representative head of state, while laws and constitutional issues are discussed and passed by a parliament. The total UK population figures have been steadily increasing, albeit only slightly, over the last decade; in 2011, the population growth rate was lower than in the previous year for the first time in eight years. Like many other countries, the UK and its economy were severely affected by the economic crisis in 2009. Since then, the unemployment rate has doubled and is only recovering slowly. UK inhabitants tend to move to the cities to find work and better living conditions; urbanization in the United Kingdom has been on the rise. At the same time, population density in the United Kingdom has been increasing due to several factors, for example, the rising number of inhabitants and their life expectancy at birth, an increasing fertility rate, and a very low number of emigrants. In fact, the United Kingdom is now among the 20 countries with the highest life expectancy at birth worldwide. As can be seen above, the median age of UK residents has also been increasing significantly since the seventies; another indicator for a well-working economy and society.

Chart and table of U.K. population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

United Kingdom UK: Population: Male: Ages 75-79: % of Male Population data was reported at 3.179 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 3.148 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Population: Male: Ages 75-79: % of Male Population data is updated yearly, averaging 2.528 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.179 % in 2017 and a record low of 1.709 % in 1970. United Kingdom UK: Population: Male: Ages 75-79: % of Male Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Male population between the ages 75 to 79 as a percentage of the total male population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; ;

United Kingdom UK: Population: as % of Total: Aged 0-14 data was reported at 17.711 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 17.619 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Population: as % of Total: Aged 0-14 data is updated yearly, averaging 19.343 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 24.159 % in 1970 and a record low of 17.522 % in 2010. United Kingdom UK: Population: as % of Total: Aged 0-14 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population between the ages 0 to 14 as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population.; ; World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Weighted average;

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Edinburgh, UK metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Newcastle upon Tyne, UK metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the West Yorkshire, UK metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.

Cambridge was the fastest growing city in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2022, with its population increasing by 17.9 percent. Peterborough, Milton Keynes and Exeter also grew quite fast, with their populations increasing by 15.4 percent, 15 percent, and 14.4 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 2022, the gross domestic product of Greater London was approximately 508.3 billion British pounds, compared with 90.8 billion for Greater Manchester, and 77 billion in the West Midlands Metropolitan Area centered around Birmingham. UK population growth In 2022, the overall population of the United Kingdom was estimated to have reached approximately 67.6 million, compared with around 58.9 million in 2000. Since 1970, the year with the highest population growth rate was 2016 when the population grew by around 0.86 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.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Leicester, UK metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

Virgin Islands (British) Population: as % of Total: Aged 65 and Above data was reported at 9.202 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 8.857 % for 2022. Virgin Islands (British) Population: as % of Total: Aged 65 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 5.192 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.202 % in 2023 and a record low of 4.389 % in 1970. Virgin Islands (British) Population: as % of Total: Aged 65 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Virgin Islands (British) – Table VG.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population ages 65 and above as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.;United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.;Weighted average;