# Most and least populated places in South East (2021)

Buckinghamshire was the most populated of South East’s 64 councils in 2021 (population 553,078).

Adur was the least populated (64,544). The middle council, Tonbridge and Malling, had 132,201.

| Rank | Area | Population |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Buckinghamshire](https://openindex.co.uk/buckinghamshire) | 553,078 |
| 2 | [Milton Keynes](https://openindex.co.uk/milton-keynes) | 287,060 |
| 3 | [Medway](https://openindex.co.uk/medway) | 279,773 |
| 4 | [Brighton and Hove](https://openindex.co.uk/brighton-and-hove) | 277,103 |
| 5 | [Southampton](https://openindex.co.uk/southampton) | 248,922 |
| 6 | [Portsmouth](https://openindex.co.uk/portsmouth) | 208,003 |
| 7 | [Basingstoke and Deane](https://openindex.co.uk/basingstoke-and-deane) | 185,154 |
| 8 | [Wokingham](https://openindex.co.uk/wokingham) | 177,503 |
| 9 | [New Forest](https://openindex.co.uk/new-forest) | 175,785 |
| 10 | [Maidstone](https://openindex.co.uk/maidstone) | 175,782 |
| 11 | [Reading](https://openindex.co.uk/reading) | 174,224 |
| 12 | [Arun](https://openindex.co.uk/arun) | 164,889 |
| 13 | [Oxford](https://openindex.co.uk/oxford) | 162,040 |
| 14 | [West Berkshire](https://openindex.co.uk/west-berkshire) | 161,448 |
| 15 | [Cherwell](https://openindex.co.uk/cherwell) | 161,016 |
| 16 | [Wealden](https://openindex.co.uk/wealden) | 160,152 |
| 17 | [Slough](https://openindex.co.uk/slough) | 158,500 |
| 18 | [Canterbury](https://openindex.co.uk/canterbury) | 157,432 |
| 19 | [Windsor and Maidenhead](https://openindex.co.uk/windsor-and-maidenhead) | 153,496 |
| 20 | [Mid Sussex](https://openindex.co.uk/mid-sussex) | 152,566 |
| 21 | [Swale](https://openindex.co.uk/swale) | 151,676 |
| 22 | [Reigate and Banstead](https://openindex.co.uk/reigate-and-banstead) | 150,846 |
| 23 | [South Oxfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/south-oxfordshire) | 149,085 |
| 24 | [Horsham](https://openindex.co.uk/horsham) | 146,778 |
| 25 | [Guildford](https://openindex.co.uk/guildford) | 143,650 |
| 26 | [Thanet](https://openindex.co.uk/thanet) | 140,587 |
| 27 | [Isle of Wight](https://openindex.co.uk/isle-of-wight) | 140,459 |
| 28 | [Vale of White Horse](https://openindex.co.uk/vale-of-white-horse) | 138,913 |
| 29 | [Elmbridge](https://openindex.co.uk/elmbridge) | 138,754 |
| 30 | [Eastleigh](https://openindex.co.uk/eastleigh) | 136,443 |
| 31 | [Ashford](https://openindex.co.uk/ashford) | 132,747 |
| 32 | [Tonbridge and Malling](https://openindex.co.uk/tonbridge-and-malling) | 132,201 |
| 33 | [Test Valley](https://openindex.co.uk/test-valley) | 130,492 |
| 34 | [Waverley](https://openindex.co.uk/waverley) | 128,229 |
| 35 | [Winchester](https://openindex.co.uk/winchester) | 127,444 |
| 36 | [East Hampshire](https://openindex.co.uk/east-hampshire) | 125,744 |
| 37 | [Bracknell Forest](https://openindex.co.uk/bracknell-forest) | 124,607 |
| 38 | [Havant](https://openindex.co.uk/havant) | 124,208 |
| 39 | [Chichester](https://openindex.co.uk/chichester) | 124,068 |
| 40 | [Sevenoaks](https://openindex.co.uk/sevenoaks) | 120,514 |
| 41 | [Crawley](https://openindex.co.uk/crawley) | 118,493 |
| 42 | [Dartford](https://openindex.co.uk/dartford) | 116,753 |
| 43 | [Dover](https://openindex.co.uk/dover) | 116,410 |
| 44 | [Tunbridge Wells](https://openindex.co.uk/tunbridge-wells) | 115,311 |
| 45 | [Fareham](https://openindex.co.uk/fareham) | 114,511 |
| 46 | [West Oxfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/west-oxfordshire) | 114,237 |
| 47 | [Worthing](https://openindex.co.uk/worthing) | 111,338 |
| 48 | [Folkestone and Hythe](https://openindex.co.uk/folkestone-and-hythe) | 109,758 |
| 49 | [Gravesham](https://openindex.co.uk/gravesham) | 106,900 |
| 50 | [Woking](https://openindex.co.uk/woking) | 103,943 |
| 51 | [Spelthorne](https://openindex.co.uk/spelthorne) | 102,956 |
| 52 | [Eastbourne](https://openindex.co.uk/eastbourne) | 101,686 |
| 53 | [Lewes](https://openindex.co.uk/lewes) | 99,905 |
| 54 | [Rushmoor](https://openindex.co.uk/rushmoor) | 99,756 |
| 55 | [Hart](https://openindex.co.uk/hart) | 99,408 |
| 56 | [Rother](https://openindex.co.uk/rother) | 93,108 |
| 57 | [Hastings](https://openindex.co.uk/hastings) | 90,995 |
| 58 | [Surrey Heath](https://openindex.co.uk/surrey-heath) | 90,453 |
| 59 | [Runnymede](https://openindex.co.uk/runnymede) | 88,079 |
| 60 | [Tandridge](https://openindex.co.uk/tandridge) | 87,876 |
| 61 | [Mole Valley](https://openindex.co.uk/mole-valley) | 87,386 |
| 62 | [Gosport](https://openindex.co.uk/gosport) | 81,952 |
| 63 | [Epsom and Ewell](https://openindex.co.uk/epsom-and-ewell) | 80,938 |
| 64 | [Adur](https://openindex.co.uk/adur) | 64,544 |

Source: Census 2021, England and Wales and Scotland's Census 2022 and Census 2021, Northern Ireland, ONS Census 2021. Period: 2021. Period: 2021.

## Other rankings of this measure

- [UK](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/uk)
- [England](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/england)
- [Northern Ireland](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/northern-ireland)
- [Scotland](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/scotland)
- [Wales](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/wales)
- [North East](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/north-east)
- [North West](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/north-west)
- [Yorkshire and The Humber](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/yorkshire-and-the-humber)
- [East Midlands](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/east-midlands)
- [West Midlands](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/west-midlands)
- [East of England](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/east-of-england)
- [London](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/london)
- [South West](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/south-west)

- [The map](https://openindex.co.uk/map/population)
- [Source and method](https://openindex.co.uk/sources/population)

## How to cite

Source: Open Index, openindex.co.uk. Link to this page, https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/south-east.

Open Index's own text and the figures it works out are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source data keeps its publishers' licences, named with each figure. Give each figure's period and source with it.

Snapshot 2026.10.11. The HTML page: https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population/south-east