HC Deb 10 July 2000 vol 353 cc439-40W
Mr. Curry

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the population of the 20 largest cities in the UK; and what was the population of the same cities(a) two, (b) five and (c) 10 years earlier. [128867]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Curry, dated 10 July 2000: As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the twenty largest cities in the UK. (128867) I have given my reply in the attached table in terms of the twenty largest local authorities in the UK rather than cities as official population estimates are produced for local authority areas, not cities. ONS produces annual mid-year population estimates for the local authorities in England and Wales. The local authorities in England and Wales are the unitary authorities, district, borough councils and London boroughs. The population estimates used for each of the years given in this answer are in terms of the local authorities as their boundaries were defined in 1998. This has been done so that comparisons can be made between years without confusion due to the local government reorganisation that took place between 1996 and 1998. The General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics Research Agency produces the population estimates for the local authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. The mid-98 population estimates from these sources have been used with the estimates from England and Wales in order to identify the twenty largest local authorities in the UK in mid-98. The mid-98 population estimates have been used for this answer as these are the most recent population estimates for England and Wales; the mid-99 estimates are due to be published in August 2000.

Estimated resident population for the 20 largest local authority areas in mid-1998 in the United Kingdom1, 2
Total population
Local authority area3 Mid-1998 Mid-1996 Mid-1993 Mid-1988
1. Greater London4 7,187,300 7,074,300 6,933,000 6,770,300
2. Birmingham 1,013,400 1,020,600 1,012,400 1,001,900
3. Leeds 727,400 726,900 724,500 710,300
4. Glasgow City 619,700 616,400 624,900 649,900
5. Sheffield 531,100 530,400 531,900 530,700
6. Bradford 483,300 483,400 480,000 467,000
7. Liverpool 461,500 468,000 477,000 482,300
8. Edinburgh, City of 450,200 448,900 441,600 437,500
9. Manchester 429,800 430,800 432,000 439,300
10. Bristol, City of UA 402,300 399,600 397,600 392,500
11. Kirklees5 390,900 388,800 385,800 378,500
12. Fife5 348,900 349,300 351,200 346,600
13. Wirral5 327,100 329,200 334,100 335,500
14. North Lanarkshire5 326,700 325,900 326,800 330,700
15. Cardiff UA 320,900 315,000 305,200 292,900
16. Wakefield 318,800 317,300 317,500 310,500
17. East Riding of Yorkshire UA5 312,800 308,800 302,000 287,900
18. Dudley 311,500 312,200 311,500 305,900
19. Wigan 310,500 309,800 313,200 306,600
20. South Lanarkshire5 306,900 307,500 306,100 303,600
1In descending order of size
2Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred persons
3The local authorities in England and Wales are as their boundaries were defined in 1998 after local government reorganisation
4Greater London includes all 33 London boroughs
5Major population centres in these areas are:

  • Kirklees—Huddersfield
  • Fife—Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy
  • Wirral—Birkenhead
  • North Lanarkshire—Cumbernauld and Coatbridge
  • East Riding of Yorkshire—Beverley and Bridlington

South Lanarkshire—East Kilbride and Hamilton.Source:

Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland

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