There were approximately 67.6 million people living in the United Kingdom in 2022, making it the third-largest
, behind only Russia and Germany, and slightly ahead of France. Since 2000 there has been a net increase of over 8.7 million people in the
, with the country passing the 60 million mark in 2005. Between 2019 and 2020, however, the UK population
by just 0.43 percent, which was the slowest rate since 2002. In 2022,
in the UK by approximately 1.4 million, although that gap was far greater in the past, such as in 1950 when there were almost two million more women than men.
Sub-divisions of the UK
The UK itself is composed of four different countries, with
England having, by far, the largest population at 57.1 million, followed by
Scotland at 5.45 million,
Wales at 3.13 million, and
Northern Ireland at 1.9 million. Within these countries, there are further sub-divisions, with England divided into nine
regions, and then into 47
counties. Within Scotland, there are 32 different
council areas, while Wales and Northern Ireland are divided into 22
unitary authorities, and eleven
local government districts, respectively. By some distance, London is the
biggest city in the UK, with a population of around nine million, which was more than three times greater than that of any other city in 2022.
Millennials now the largest generation in the UK
Since 2020, the Millennial generation, born between 1981 and 1996 are the largest generation in the UK, at 14.4 million as of 2021. Prior to 2020, the baby boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964 were the largest
generation in the UK, at just under 14.3 million in 2019, with this falling to 13.9 million by 2021. The high
birth rates in the UK after World War Two, are responsible for the large size of this generation, which experienced a postwar peak of 18.8 births per 1,000 population in 1964. By comparison, the birth rate in 2020 was just 10.2, which was also the lowest birth rate since at least 1938. There were just 681,560
live births in the United Kingdom in 2020, the fewest since 2002. While there have also been significant long-term improvements in
life expectancy, life expectancy improvements have also slowed since 2010.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no
liability for the information given being complete or correct.
Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
data than referenced in the text.
