UK Population 2023
According to the Office of National Statistics latest estimates, the UK population is 68,138,484 people.
The United Kingdom is the 22nd largest country in the world, the fourth largest in Europe and, until recently, was the third largest in the European Union by population.
The United Kingdom is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe. 701 people live in every square mile, that’s 270 people per square kilometre.
London, the capital city, is also the largest city in the UK. In 2021, at the time of the last census, the population of London was 8,799,800 people.
How many people live in the UK?
Although the overall UK population in 2023 is 68,138,484, the UK is made up of four different countries each of which has its own population.
The table below list the 2021 population for the UK as a whole, and for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
| Country | Population (2016) | Percentage of total |
| United Kingdom | 68,138,484 | 100% |
| England | 65,489,800 | 84% |
| Scotland | 5,463,300 | 8% |
| Wales | 3,267,501 | 5% |
| Northern Ireland | 1,903,100 | 3% |
Note – the individual population counts for the individual countries of the UK do not match the total for the UK as a whole because they are based on data reported, at slightly different times, by the relevant government in each country.
UK population growth and Immigration into the UK
The rate of population growth in the UK has increased in recent years. In 2015 the population increased by 513,000 people (0.8%).
Population increases come from immigration and natural growth (the number of births minus the number of deaths. The total number of immigrants coming into the UK is offset by the number of people who emigrate from the United Kingdom each year (see British people abroad below) to reach a final population growth total for the year.
About one third of the UK population increase in recent years is a result of natural population growth – where the number of people being born in the UK is higher than the number of people dying every year. The remaining two thirds of the population increase is the result of net immigration into the United Kingdom.
About half of the people coming to the UK in 2015 were from the European Union. Recent data indicates that there are approximately 3 million EU citizens living and working in the UK. This equates to 5% of the UK population. The other half came from non-EU countries.
Immigration is a contentious topic in the UK, with many people believing that it is too high. Because of this immigration was one of the most important topics during the recent referendum about whether the UK should remain in or leave the European Union (often referred to as the Brexit referendum.
British people abroad
Approximately 4 million British citizens live outside of the United Kingdom. Informally, they are often referred to as British Expats.
Around a quarter (1.2 million) who were born in Britain live in other EU countries and the remaining three quarters (2.8 million) live in the rest of the world, most commonly in Commonwealth countries or the United States.
Here is a table listing the 10 most popular destinations for British expats, based on data from the UN Population Division.
| Rank | Country | Number of British |
| 1 | Australia | 1,289,396 |
| 2 | United States | 714,999 |
| 3 | Canada | 607,377 |
| 4 | South Africa | 318,536 |
| 5 | Spain | 308,821 |
| 6 | New Zealand | 265,014 |
| 7 | Ireland | 254,761 |
| 8 | France | 185,344 |
| 9 | Germany | 103,352 |
| 10 | Italy | 64,986 |
Ethnic groups in the UK
Different parts of the UK record ethnicity in different ways in their census. The data below is from the 2021 England and Wales Census. Data from the 2022 Scotland census is expected in mid-2024, and Northern Ireland does not record ethnicity data in its census.
The Office for National Statistics data on ethnicity in England and Wales shows that ‘White’ remains the single largest ethnic group. In the 2021 census, 81.7% of people reported that they were White. This is a decrease from 86.0% in the 2011 census.
Asian is the next largest single group. In 2021, 9.3% reported that they were Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh – up from 7.5% in 2011.
Black, Black British,Black Welsh, Caribbean or African made up a further 3.3% of the population. This is a decrease compared to 2011, when it was 4.0%.
| Ethnic Group | Population | Percentage |
| White | 48.7 million | 87.1% |
| Asian or Asian British | 5.5 million | 9.3% |
| Black or Black British | 4.0 million | 4.0% |
| Mixed / Multiple ethnic groups | 2.9 million | 2.9% |
| Other ethnic group | 2.1 million | 2.1% |
Ethnic diversity varies across the country. For example, 53.8% of the population in London is white in 2021, whereas 93.1% of people report that they are white in the North East of England and 93.9% of people are white.
The Asian population in London (20.7%) and the West Midlands (13.3%) is much higher than, for example, in Wales (2.9%) or the South West of England (2.8%).
This is illustrated in the chart below (which contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 and was first published on the gov.uk website).