London, United Kingdom Population

Population in Urban Area, now

9,572,430
  • World: 36th
  • Europe: 3rd
  • United Kingdom: 1st

Population in City Area, 2022-03-09

8,961,989
  • World: 21st
  • Europe: 2nd
  • United Kingdom: 1st

London Urban Area Population Graph

London Population Review

London, England is a famed, multi-cultural city that is considered one of the world’s most important global cities. It is one of most desirable, most powerful, innovative, sustainable, influential, and expensive cities in the world. It also has an incredibly multi-faceted history that dates back to Roman times. It is the largest city and the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, with 7.5 million people calling the Greater London area home and a total of 9.3 million living in the metro area.

The city is by far the most populated in the United Kingdom. The next largest city is Birmingham, which only has 1.1 million people. London is actually so big that it’s the largest city in the European Union, and is more than twice as big as the next largest, Berlin. Each day in London, there are 359 babies born and 132 people who pass away, which means the population increases by a minimum of 227 people every day.

A city with many different names

Figuring out the exact amount of people who live in London is tricky when you take into account the unique ways the city is defined. London’s geographic definitions include: the City of London, Inner London, Outer London, Greater London, and the London Metropolitan Area. When most people refer to London, they are referring to Greater London. The City of London, on the other hand, is actually quite small and only has about 10,000 residents; though up to 300,000 commute there daily to work.

A wealthy city

As a city, London has more billionaires than any other in the world. London has so many wealthy people living in it that it actually accounts for 62.97% of all the wealth in the United Kingdom, totalling £485.695bn. There are a total of 95 billionaires that call London home, and an insane 357,200 millionaires live in London. That’s about 20,000 more millionaires than New York City has. London became a playground for the rich mostly due to its status as an economic powerhouse, and partly due to its fashionable and sought after nightlife and restaurant scene.

London’s ethnicity

London is considerably more diverse than the rest of the United Kingdom. Based on the 2011 Census, the rest of England and across Wales, the population is 86% white. In London, that number falls to 69%, but the further away you get from the city center, the higher that number rises. London’s diversity is mostly due to the varied countries of birth of its residents. Of London’s 9.1 million residents, 3.3 were born outside the United Kingdom, and approximately two-thirds were born outside the European Union. More than 80% of children in London’s inner cities are from ethnic minorities and more than 50% of them do not speak English as a first language.

A city with packed classrooms

Unlike elsewhere in the UK, 60% of the working-age population in London holds a degree, making it much more educated than most other places in the country. The powerful city continues to draw educated minds from around the world, which are changing the political and social economy of the city. London occupies four of the top six regions for the most graduates living within a city. The most graduates (69%) live in inner London west, an area that includes the City of London, Kensington, Camden, Chelsea, Hammersmith, Fulham, and Westminster. Inner London east, which contains Haringey, Islington, Lewisham, Southwark, Hackney, Newham, Lambeth, and Tower Hamlets has 58% of graduates in the population.

Review Updated: July 9, 2020
Big Ben and Houses of Parliament, LondonBig Ben and Houses of Parliament, London

London Urban Area Population History

1950 8,361,000
1951 8,344,000
1952 8,328,000
1953 8,311,000
1954 8,294,000
1955 8,278,000
1956 8,261,000
1957 8,245,000
1958 8,229,000
1959 8,212,000
1960 8,196,000
1961 8,168,000
1962 8,092,000
1963 8,017,000
1964 7,942,000
1965 7,869,000
1966 7,795,000
1967 7,723,000
1968 7,651,000
1969 7,580,000
1970 7,509,000
1971 7,438,000
1972 7,358,000
1973 7,279,000
1974 7,201,000
1975 7,124,000
1976 7,048,000
1977 6,973,000
1978 6,898,000
1979 6,824,000
1980 6,751,000
1981 6,698,000
1982 6,709,000
1983 6,720,000
1984 6,730,000
1985 6,741,000
1986 6,752,000
1987 6,762,000
1988 6,773,000
1989 6,784,000
1990 6,794,000
1991 6,841,000
1992 6,888,000
1993 6,935,000
1994 6,982,000
1995 7,030,000
1996 7,078,000
1997 7,126,000
1998 7,174,000
1999 7,223,000
2000 7,273,000
2001 7,322,000
2002 7,367,000
2003 7,411,000
2004 7,456,000
2005 7,501,000
2006 7,547,000
2007 7,668,000
2008 7,792,000
2009 7,917,000
2010 8,044,000
2011 8,174,000
2012 8,293,000
2013 8,414,000
2014 8,537,000
2015 8,661,000
2016 8,788,000
2017 8,916,000
2018 9,046,000
2019 9,177,000
2020 9,304,000
2021 9,426,000
2022 9,541,000
2023 9,648,000
2024 9,748,000

London Urban Area Population Projections

2025 9,841,000
2026 9,927,000
2027 10,008,000
2028 10,084,000
2029 10,158,000
2030 10,228,000
2031 10,297,000
2032 10,363,000
2033 10,429,000
2034 10,493,000
2035 10,556,000

Map of London, United Kingdom

All Biggest Cities in the United Kingdom