Population growth

69.5 million people lived in the UK in mid-2025.

The population has grown more than tenfold since 1700, when it was around 6.6 million.

England's population record goes even further back. It was home to around 1.7 million in 1086, before rising to around 4.8 million by the 1340s. The population almost halved during the Black Death, and didn't recover until the 1620s.

There are more women than men in the UK: around 35.4 million women compared to 34 million men.

This is mainly because women live longer than men.

The chart shows the annual change in the UK's population, given as a share of the total population.

The UK's population grew by 0.3% between mid-2024 and mid-2025, down from 1.0% the year before, and 1.3% in the year to mid-2023, which was the fastest growth in at least 70 years.

Population growth was far slower in the late 1970s and early 1980s; in some years, it actually shrunk slightly.

How has population growth changed over the long run?

The chart shows the annual average growth across decades since the 1700s.

The UK's population grew fast in the early 19th century, at around 1.5% a year. Growth slowed in the 20th century, to its lowest in the 1970s and 1980s, at under 0.2% a year. It has been faster again since 2000, averaging around 0.6% a year.

Population change is determined by the balance of three things: births, deaths and migration.

The chart shows two variables. First, the so-called "natural population growth", which is the balance of births and deaths. Second, the effect of net migration.

In the mid-1960s, births outnumbered deaths by up to 400,000 a year, while more people left the UK than arrived (meaning net migration was negative). Net migration then became consistently positive in the 1990s.

Since 1998, net migration has added more to the population than natural change in almost every year. Today, the number of births and deaths is around equal, meaning the contribution of natural population growth is close to zero. That means almost all of the UK's recent population growth has come from migration.

The map shows the change in population over the decade from 2015 to 2025 by local authority.

Over this period, the UK's population grew by 6.8%: by 7.3% in England, 4.0% in Northern Ireland, 3.6% in Scotland and 3.3% in Wales.

The fastest growth was experienced in in areas such as South Derbyshire, Tewkesbury, and Stratford-on-Avon, and in Tower Hamlets.

Population in some areas fell, including Kensington and Chelsea, the Western Isles, and Shetland.

The chart shows the total population of local authorities in 2025. You can add and remove areas using the button on the chart, and switch to a line chart view to see changes over time.

Birmingham has the largest population of any local authority, at 1.18 million in 2025, followed by Leeds (841,000) and Glasgow (654,000).

Population projections are inherently uncertain as they rely on assumptions about fertility rates, life expectancy, and migration rates, often decades into the future.

The chart shows various projection scenarios from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is primarily based on differences in assumptions about migration.

In its principal (middle) scenario, the ONS projects the UK's population will increase to 71 million by 2034 and peak at 72.5 million in 2054, before slowly declining. This assumes net migration of 230,000 a year.

In a higher migration scenario, the population would reach 86 million by 2074. With no net migration, it would falling almost immediately, reaching 56 million by 2074.

Population estimates come from ONS, using each census and then adding births, subtracting deaths and adding net migration in each year since. They count people who usually live in the UK, in the middle of each year. Estimates for recent years are revised as better migration data becomes available.

Long-run figures before 1971 come from the Bank of England's historical dataset. For England before the first census in 1801, they are reconstructed from parish records of baptisms and burials, and before 1541 from sources such as the Domesday Book and medieval tax records.

Births and deaths come from the registrars of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and net migration from ONS's long-term international migration estimates.

Projections come from ONS's 2024-based national population projections. They show what would happen if its assumptions about births, deaths and migration held; they are not forecasts.