UK population: record highs and lows

The extremes of uk population as published by ONS, across the 156 periods held here (1851 to 2024). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.

The latest figure, 69,281,437 in 2024, is the highest in the whole published series of 156 periods. The rule: a period counts as beaten only when its figure is strictly below the latest, and the claim is only made when it reaches back at least five years.

Highest published

69,281,4372024

Lowest published

27,368,8001851

The full series

Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover, tap or use arrow keys to read a value; tap again to unpin

The chart as a table

Period	UK population
1851	27,368,800 people
1861	28,917,900 people
1871	31,484,700 people
1872	31,874,200 people
1873	32,177,600 people
1874	32,501,500 people
1875	32,838,800 people
1876	33,200,000 people
1877	33,575,900 people
1878	33,943,800 people
1879	34,304,000 people
1880	34,622,900 people
1881	34,934,500 people
1882	35,206,600 people
1883	35,449,700 people
1884	35,724,200 people
1885	36,015,500 people
1886	36,313,600 people
1887	36,599,100 people
1888	36,881,300 people
1889	37,178,900 people
1890	37,484,800 people
1891	37,802,400 people
1892	38,134,100 people
1893	38,490,300 people
1894	38,859,100 people
1895	39,221,100 people
1896	39,599,100 people
1897	39,987,300 people
1898	40,380,800 people
1899	40,774,300 people
1900	41,154,600 people
1901	41,538,200 people
1902	41,892,700 people
1903	42,246,600 people
1904	42,611,400 people
1905	42,980,800 people
1906	43,361,100 people
1907	43,737,800 people
1908	44,123,800 people
1909	44,519,500 people
1910	44,915,900 people
1911	42,189,800 people
1912	42,373,600 people
1913	42,582,300 people
1914	42,956,900 people
1915	41,361,500 people
1916	40,536,300 people
1917	39,780,700 people
1918	39,582,000 people
1919	42,944,100 people
1920	43,646,400 people
1921	43,904,100 people
1922	44,331,500 people
1923	44,563,100 people
1924	44,885,600 people
1925	45,040,000 people
1926	45,217,600 people
1927	45,432,000 people
1928	45,622,200 people
1929	45,731,000 people
1930	45,888,900 people
1931	46,073,600 people
1932	46,335,000 people
1933	46,520,000 people
1934	46,666,000 people
1935	46,868,500 people
1936	47,081,300 people
1937	47,288,600 people
1938	47,494,100 people
1939	47,547,700 people
1940	46,029,200 people
1941	44,870,400 people
1942	44,323,000 people
1943	48,261,600 people
1944	48,459,600 people
1945	48,668,900 people
1946	48,987,800 people
1947	49,538,700 people
1948	50,033,200 people
1949	50,331,000 people
1950	50,381,500 people
1951	50,286,900 people
1952	50,429,200 people
1953	50,592,900 people
1954	50,764,900 people
1955	50,946,100 people
1956	51,183,500 people
1957	51,430,200 people
1958	51,652,500 people
1959	51,956,300 people
1960	52,372,500 people
1961	52,807,400 people
1962	53,291,800 people
1963	53,624,900 people
1964	53,990,800 people
1965	54,349,500 people
1966	54,642,700 people
1967	54,959,000 people
1968	55,213,500 people
1969	55,460,600 people
1970	55,632,200 people
1971	55,928,000 people
1972	56,096,700 people
1973	56,222,900 people
1974	56,235,600 people
1975	56,225,700 people
1976	56,216,100 people
1977	56,189,900 people
1978	56,178,000 people
1979	56,240,100 people
1980	56,329,700 people
1981	56,357,500 people
1982	56,290,700 people
1983	56,315,700 people
1984	56,409,300 people
1985	56,554,000 people
1986	56,683,800 people
1987	56,804,000 people
1988	56,916,400 people
1989	57,076,500 people
1990	57,237,500 people
1991	57,438,700 people
1992	57,584,500 people
1993	57,713,900 people
1994	57,862,100 people
1995	58,024,800 people
1996	58,164,400 people
1997	58,314,200 people
1998	58,474,900 people
1999	58,684,400 people
2000	58,886,100 people
2001	59,113,016 people
2002	59,365,677 people
2003	59,636,662 people
2004	59,950,364 people
2005	60,413,276 people
2006	60,826,967 people
2007	61,319,075 people
2008	61,823,772 people
2009	62,260,486 people
2010	62,759,456 people
2011	63,285,145 people
2012	63,710,543 people
2013	64,138,221 people
2014	64,618,693 people
2015	65,086,958 people
2016	65,605,841 people
2017	65,964,292 people
2018	66,286,727 people
2019	66,627,507 people
2020	66,739,867 people
2021	66,977,988 people
2022	67,636,134 people
2023	68,526,183 people
2024	69,281,437 people

What a record here is, and is not

A record is the extreme of the periods this site holds for the current series, at each period’s newest published release. Earlier series measured under different methods are not compared against it. Money is in cash terms: a record set years ago stands against the money of its own year.