The demography of London is analysed by the Office for National Statistics and data is produced for each of the Greater London wards, the City of London and the 32 London boroughs, the Inner London and Outer London statistical sub-regions, each of the Parliamentary constituencies in London, and for all of Greater London as a whole. Additionally, data is produced for the Greater London Urban Area. Statistical information is produced about the size and geographical breakdown of the population, the number of people entering and leaving country and the number of people in each demographic subgroup. The 2021 population of London was 8,799,800.

History

Post-war decline Greater London's population declined after World War II. It declined by 204,364 between 1951 and 1961, and by a further 540,097 between 1961 and 1971.

Creation of Greater London The Greater London region was established in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963. Migration boom: 1991 to today From the 1990s, there has been a drastic change in the composition of London's population, which has offset the previous decline of the population. occurring. In 1991, 21.7% of the city was foreign-born, but by 2011 this had risen to 36.7%.

There was a historic tipping point when the 2011 census results showed that the White British population was no longer a majority of London's population, although it remained by far the largest single ethnic group.

Population

The historical population for the current area of Greater London, divided into the statistical areas of Inner and Outer London is as follows:

London population over timeYearInner LondonOuter LondonGreater London1801879,491131,6661,011,1571811 1,040,033 157,640 1,197,6731821 1,263,975 186,147 1,450,1221831 1,515,557 214,392 1,729,9491841 1,661,346 255,667 1,917,0131851 1,995,846 290,763 2,286,6091861 2,634,143 460,248 3,094,3911871 3,272,441 629,737 3,902,1781881 3,910,735 799,225 4,709,9601891 4,422,340 1,143,516 5,565,8561901 4,670,177 1,556,317 6,226,4941911 4,997,741 2,160,134 7,157,8751921 4,936,803 2,616,723 7,553,5261931 4,887,932 3,211,010 8,098,9421941 4,224,135 3,763,801 7,987,9361951 3,680,821 4,483,595 8,164,4161961 3,336,557 4,444,785 7,781,3421971 3,030,490 4,418,694 7,449,1841981 2,425,534 4,182,979 6,608,5131991 2,625,245 4,262,035 6,887,2802001 2,765,975 4,406,061 7,172,0362011 3,231,900 4,942,100 8,173,9002021 3,404,300 5,395,500 8,799,800

Age

Fertility

In 2023, there were 104,252 live births in London. The fertility rate of London in 2023 was 1.35, which is well below replacement.

+Total fertility rate by borough (2023) London boroughTFRBarking and Dagenham2.00Redbridge1.77Hillingdon1.72Havering1.65Croydon1.63Waltham Forest1.63Enfield1.61Harrow1.61Newham1.60Hounslow1.58Barnet1.57Brent1.53Bexley1.51Bromley1.50Sutton1.49Ealing1.48Merton1.39 Greenwich1.38Haringey1.33Richmond upon Thames1.30 Hackney1.31 Lewisham1.26Kingston upon Thames1.24 Wandsworth1.14 Tower Hamlets1.11 Kensington and Chelsea1.10 Lambeth1.09 Hammersmith and Fulham1.06 Southwark1.06 Islington1.01 City of Westminster1.00 Camden1.00

Population density

The population density of London was 5,727 per km2 in 2011.

Urban and metropolitan area At the 2001 census, the population of the Greater London Urban Area was 8,278,251. This area does not include some outliers within Greater London, but extends into the adjacent South East England and East of England regions. In 2004, the London Plan of the Mayor of London defined a metropolitan region with a population of 18 million.

Eurostat has developed a harmonising standard for comparing metropolitan areas in the European Union. The population of the London Larger Urban Zone is 11,917,000. It occupies an area of . Another definition gives the 2007 population of the metropolitan area as 13,709,000.

Ethnicity For the overwhelming majority of London's history, the population of the city was ethnically homogenous with the population being of White British ethnic origin, with small clusters of minority groups such as Jewish people, most notably in areas of the East End. From 1948 onwards and especially since the 1990s, the population has diversified in international terms at an increased rate.

In 2011, it was reported for the first time that White British people had become a minority within London, establishing that London was a majority-minority city within the UK. In 2005, a survey of London's ethnic and religious diversity claimed that there were more than 300 languages spoken, and 50 non-indigenous communities with a population of more than 10,000 in London.

Ethnicity overall

The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents from estimates in 1971 and in the 1991–2021 censuses in Greater London.

+Ethnic make-up of Greater LondonEthnic GroupYear1961 estimations1966 estimations Percentages for Asian, West Indian (Caribbean)as per Ethnic Minorities in Britain, and African are Commonwealth only. White Total is Total less Asian, West Indian, and African Commonwealth percentages. White British and White Irish numbers and percentages as per Sample Census 1966. White Other number and percentage is Cyprus, Malta, New Zealand, and Australia only, as per Sample Census 1966.1971 estimations1981 estimations1991 census2001 census2011 census2021 censusNumber%Number%Number%Number%Number%Number%Number%Number% White: Total7,602,23397.7%–95.93%6,901,59692.6%5,893,97386.6% 5,333,580 79.80% 5,103,203 71.15% 4,887,435 59.79%4,731,17253.8% White: BritishNew category created for the 2001 census––6,636,77086.52%6,500,00087%–––– 4,287,861 59.79% 3,669,284 44.89%3,239,28136.8% White: Irish––287,6103.75%401,5965.4%–– 256,470 3.83% 220,488 3.07% 175,974 2.15%156,3331.8% White: Gypsy or Irish TravellerNew category created for the 2011 census–––––––– – – 8,196 0.10%7,0310.1% White: Gypsy ––––––––––––37,6890.4% White: Other––90,0801.17%–––– 594,854 8.29% 1,033,981 12.65%1,290,83814.7% Asian or Asian British: Total–––1.53%––425,4266.3% 690,031 10.33% 946,894 13.20% 1,511,546 18.49%1,817,64020.8% Asian or Asian British: Indian––––––232,8813.4% 347,091 5.19% 436,993 6.09% 542,857 6.64%656,2727.5% Asian or Asian British: Pakistani––––––59,4400.9% 87,816 1.31% 142,749 1.99% 223,797 2.74%290,5493.3% Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi––––––41,7920.6% 85,738 1.28% 153,893 2.15% 222,127 2.72%322,0543.7% Asian or Asian British: Chinese––––––35,9380.5% 56,579 0.84% 80,201 1.12% 124,250 1.52%147,5201.7% Asian or Asian British: Other Asian––––––55,3750.8% 112,807 1.68% 133,058 1.86% 398,515 4.88%401,2454.6% Black or Black British: Total–––2.54%––405,3946% 535,216 8.01% 782,849 10.92% 1,088,640 13.32%1,188,37013.5% Black or Black British: African–––0.56%––102,2301.5% 163,635 2.44% 378,933 5.28% 573,931 7.02%697,0547.9% Black or Black British: Caribbean–––1.98%––239,9563.5% 290,968 4.35% 343,567 4.79% 344,597 4.22%345,4053.9% Black or Black British: Other Black––––––63,2080.9% 80,613 1.20% 60,349 0.84% 170,112 2.08%145,9111.7% Mixed or British Mixed: Total–––––––––– 226,111 3.15% 405,279 4.96%505,7755.7% Mixed: White and Black Caribbean–––––––––– 70,928 0.99% 119,425 1.46%132,5551.5% Mixed: White and Black African–––––––––– 34,182 0.48% 65,479 0.80%77,3410.9% Mixed: White and Asian–––––––––– 59,944 0.84% 101,500 1.24%125,1881.4% Mixed: Other Mixed–––––––––– 61,057 0.85% 118,875 1.45%170,6911.9% Other: Total––––––80,7931.2% 120,872 1.81% 113,034 1.58% 281,041 3.44%556,7686.3% Other: Arab–––––––––––– 106,020 1.30%139,7911.6% Other: Any other ethnic group–––––––––– 113,034 1.58% 175,021 2.14%416,9774.7%Non-White: Total179,1092.3%–4.07%547,5887.4%911,62613.4%1,346,11920.2%2,068,88828.85%3,286,50640.2%4,068,55346.2%Total7,781,342100%7,671,220100%7,449,184100%6,805,599100% 6,679,699 100.00% 7,172,091 100.00% 8,173,941 100.00%8,799,725100%

Ethnicity by borough: This table includes detailed ethnic groups by boroughhttps://www.ons.gov.uk/filters/e8a5eb88-71e5-441f-9f9b-e94631e0083f/dimensions