UK cities

Population trends by selected UK cities, 1982-2021
Over the period 1982-2021, Glasgow and Liverpool’s population reduced by 10% and 5% respectively. However, over the last ten years up to 2020 there was population growth in all the selected UK cities, most notably in Manchester, Nottingham and Edinburgh. In 2021, there were population reductions in more than half of the cities. In Scotland, NRS is interpreting this as a Covid-19 related impact with reductions in city populations attributed to people moving out of cities into surrounding local authorities.

Population estimates of selected UK cities
Glasgow’s population is the third highest of the selected UK cities. Glasgow’s population has dropped substantially in the last 60 years, while other cities have expanded. In the last ten years the populations of all these UK cities started to increase, although the Covid-19 pandemic has led to reductions in population in some cities as people have moved out into surrounding areas.

Notes

The city populations detailed here are those for local authorities rather than for the wider conurbation surrounding a city.  For example, the Greater Glasgow and Clyde population is 1.2 million, and using a wider definition of the Glasgow conurbation, encompassing the West of Scotland and including Lanarkshire and parts of Ayrshire, would bring the population to above 2 million.