# Population estimate

The estimated number of people living in the area on 30 June each year, from the official mid-year population estimates.

## Facts

- Published by: ONS population estimates
- Level of detail: Council
- Updates: Yearly
- History: Since 2011
- Licence: Open Government Licence 3.0
- Levels: United Kingdom, Nation, Region, Council

## Periods

| Level | First | Latest | Periods |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| United Kingdom | 2011 | 2025 | 15 |
| Nation | 2011 | 2025 | 15 |
| Region | 2011 | 2025 | 15 |
| Council | 2011 | 2025 | 15 |

## Coverage

| Nation | Areas | With a figure |
| --- | --- | --- |
| England | 296 | 296 |
| Wales | 22 | 22 |
| Scotland | 32 | 32 |
| Northern Ireland | 11 | 11 |

## Caveats

- Each figure is an estimate of the people living in the area on 30 June of that year, worked out from the last census, births, deaths and migration.
- England and Wales figures come from the Office for National Statistics, Scotland's from National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland's from NISRA. Their methods differ a little, so small differences between nations are not meaningful.
- Estimates are least certain just before a census and for places with many students or recent migrants. Scotland's estimates are rounded to the nearest 10.
- ONS restates the past on today's council boundaries, so the series covers the same area every year. Barnsley and Sheffield figures are for their boundaries before April 2025.
- The census counts people on one day in 2021 (2022 in Scotland). This yearly estimate is more recent.

## Example: Hackney

Hackney’s population was an estimated 266,241 in mid-2025.
Hackney is 78th highest of 361 for population.

https://openindex.co.uk/hackney

## Sources

### Mid-year population estimates

- Publisher: Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
- Licence: [Open Government Licence 3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)
- Edition: mid-2025
- Published: 1 October 2026
- Fetched: 15 October 2026
- Updates: annual
- Credit: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.
- Publisher's page: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland

## Use it

- [The map](https://openindex.co.uk/map/population-estimate)
- [Ranking](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/population-estimate/uk)
- Download (Council): https://data.openindex.co.uk/s/2026.10.8/downloads/layers/population-estimate/council.csv
- API: https://openindex.co.uk/v1/layers/population-estimate

## How to cite

Source: Open Index, openindex.co.uk. Link to this page, https://openindex.co.uk/sources/population-estimate.

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.

- Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.

Snapshot 2026.10.8, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23508850. The HTML page: https://openindex.co.uk/sources/population-estimate