UK cities

Population trends by selected UK cities, 1991-2023

Over the period 2001-2023, all the selected UK cities increased their population growth ranging between 9.2% for Glasgow to 37.1% for Manchester.  Although growth was the lowest for Glasgow, its population was the third highest of the selected UK cities. In 2021, there were population reductions in 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.

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.

This page was last updated in March 2025.