Population of London 1981-2023

The population of London was approximately 8.9 million in 2023, an increase of over two million people when compared with the early 1980s. Throughout the 1980s, the population of the United Kingdom's capital grew at a relatively slow rate, before accelerating to a much faster rate in the 1990s. London is by far the largest city / urban agglomeration in the United Kingdom, more than three times larger than the next largest cities of Manchester and Birmingham. London’s forecasted population is expected to continue growing at much the same pace it has been growing since the mid-1990s and reach almost 9.8 million by 2042.

London boroughs

As of 2022, the London borough with the highest population was Croydon, at approximately 392,224, followed by Barnet at 389,101. Overall, London is divided into 33 different boroughs, with London's historic center, the City of London having by far the smallest population, at just 10,847. Residents of the City of London, however, have the highest average median weekly earnings among all of London's boroughs, at 1,138 pounds per week, compared with just 588 pounds per week in Redbridge, the lowest average weekly earnings among London boroughs. While the overall unemployment rate for London was 4.3 percent in early 2023, this ranged from 6.8 percent in Brent, to just 2.3 percent in Kingston upon Thames.  

Economic imbalance 

Aside from being the UK's largest city in terms of population, London is also undoubtedly the UK's cultural, political and economic center. As of 2021, the GDP of Greater London was approximately 496.4 billion British pounds, just over 23 percent of the UK's overall GDP.  In the same year, GDP per person in London was 56,431 pounds compared with the UK average of 31,947 pounds. Additionally, productivity in London is far higher than the UK average. As measured by output per hour worked, London was 33.2 percent more productive than the rest of the UK.