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UK cities by population: all 76 official cities

The United Kingdom has exactly 76 cities: 55 in England, 8 in Scotland, 7 in Wales and 6 in Northern Ireland. City status is a legal grant made by the monarch, not a measure of size — which is how St Davids (population 1,751) is a city and Reading (over 300,000) is not.

By James Burfield, SEO consultant, Bath · Page updated · ONS and census sources
76
official cities
7
granted in 2022 (Platinum Jubilee)
1,157,603
largest: Birmingham
1,751
smallest: St Davids
One surprise in this table is deliberate: Greater London is not a city. The legal cities are the City of London (population 8,072) and the City of Westminster — the other 8.9 million Londoners live in neither. Rows marked * use the 2021 census (community) figure because the settlement is below our main source's threshold.
#CityNationPopulation2005Change
1 Birmingham England 1,157,603 984,333+17.6%
2 Glasgow Scotland 626,410 610,268+2.6%
3 Manchester England 568,996 395,515+43.9%
4 Sheffield England 556,500 447,047+24.5%
5 Leeds England 536,280 455,123+17.8%
6 Edinburgh Scotland 514,990 435,791+18.2%
7 Liverpool England 496,770 468,945+5.9%
8 Bristol England 479,024 430,713+11.2%
9 Cardiff Wales 372,089 302,139+23.2%
10 Leicester England 368,600 339,239+8.7%
11 Bradford England 366,187 299,310+22.3%
12 Belfast Northern Ireland 348,005 274,770+26.7%
13 Coventry England 345,324 308,313+12.0%
14 Nottingham England 323,632 246,654+31.2%
15 Kingston upon Hull England 314,018 302,296+3.9%
16 Preston England 313,332 190,687boundary differs
17 Swansea Wales 300,352 170,883boundary differs
18 Newcastle upon Tyne England 300,125 192,382+56.0%
19 Southend-on-Sea 2022 England 295,310 163,377boundary differs
20 Brighton and Hove England 283,870 139,001boundary differs
21 Derby England 270,468 235,029+15.1%
22 Southampton England 269,781 246,201+9.6%
23 Wolverhampton England 263,700 252,791+4.3%
24 Plymouth England 260,203 247,297+5.2%
25 Stoke-on-Trent England 258,366 260,419-0.8%
26 Milton Keynes 2022 England 256,385 ——
27 Westminster England 247,614 ——
28 Portsmouth England 208,100 194,150+7.2%
29 Aberdeen Scotland 198,590 183,790+8.1%
30 Sunderland England 170,134 177,965-4.4%
31 Peterborough England 163,379 140,141+16.6%
32 Oxford England 162,100 154,566+4.9%
33 Newport Wales 161,506 117,326+37.7%
34 York England 156,135 144,202+8.3%
35 Dundee Scotland 148,210 151,592-2.2%
36 Cambridge England 145,674 128,488+13.4%
37 Norwich England 143,135 177,636-19.4%
38 Gloucester England 132,416 128,721+2.9%
39 Exeter England 130,709 113,118+15.6%
40 Colchester 2022 England 130,245 109,414+19.0%
41 Salford England 129,794 70,905boundary differs
42 Doncaster 2022 England 113,566 67,670boundary differs
43 Chelmsford England 111,511 102,671+8.6%
44 Wakefield England 109,766 78,978+39.0%
45 Lincoln England 103,813 89,228+16.3%
46 Worcester England 101,659 100,023+1.6%
47 Bath England 101,557 93,238+8.9%
48 Chester England 90,524 81,313+11.3%
49 St Albans England 84,561 ——
50 Derry Northern Ireland 83,652 ——
51 Carlisle England 78,470 72,633+8.0%
52 Lisburn Northern Ireland 77,506 77,506+0.0%
53 Wrexham 2022 Wales 65,692 43,649+50.5%
54 Bangor 2022 Northern Ireland 61,011 60,385+1.0%
55 Hereford England 60,415 58,281+3.7%
56 Canterbury England 55,087 46,978+17.3%
57 Dunfermline 2022 Scotland 54,990 38,960+41.1%
58 Inverness Scotland 47,790 40,755+17.3%
59 Durham England 47,785 45,696+4.6%
60 Perth Scotland 47,350 43,633+8.5%
61 Lancaster England 47,162 47,162+0.0%
62 Winchester England 46,074 44,094+4.5%
63 Salisbury England 44,748 45,600-1.9%
64 Stirling Scotland 37,910 33,012+14.8%
65 Lichfield England 34,738 28,973+19.9%
66 Chichester England 31,654 28,222+12.2%
67 Newry Northern Ireland 27,757 27,757+0.0%
68 Truro England 23,041 22,044+4.5%
69 Ely England 20,574 14,265+44.2%
70 Bangor Wales 18,322 15,449+18.6%
71 Ripon England 16,363 16,835-2.8%
72 Armagh Northern Ireland 14,801 14,801+0.0%
73 Wells England 11,145 10,638+4.8%
74 City of London England 8,072 ——
75 St Asaph Wales 3,485* ——
76 St Davids Wales 1,751* ——
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The smallest cities

St Davids in Pembrokeshire is the UK's smallest city, with 1,751 residents at the 2021 census — city status was restored in 1994 on account of its cathedral. St Asaph (3,485) and the City of London (8,072) come next. By land area the City of London is the smallest of all, at 1.12 square miles.

What makes a city a city?

Nothing about size. City status in the UK is granted by letters patent, historically linked to having a cathedral and now awarded through competitions — most recently for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee, when 7 places were elevated (marked 2022 above). Some of England's biggest places have applied repeatedly and never been granted it: see the largest towns in the UK.

More on this: the smallest cities in the UK and why Reading still isn't one.

Common questions

How many cities are there in the UK?
There are 76: 55 in England, 8 in Scotland, 7 in Wales and 6 in Northern Ireland. The number changes only when the monarch grants city status, most recently to seven places for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee.
What is the smallest city in the UK?
St Davids in Pembrokeshire, with 1,751 residents at the 2021 census. It is a city because of its cathedral, not its size. By land area the smallest is the City of London at 1.12 square miles.
Is London a city?
Not as a whole. The legal cities are the City of London (population 8,072) and the City of Westminster. Greater London, where nearly nine million people live, has no city status of its own.
What makes a place a city in the UK?
A grant from the monarch by letters patent. There is no population threshold and no automatic qualification. The link to cathedrals is historic; modern grants are made through competitions, usually to mark a royal occasion.
Which is the newest UK city?
Seven places were granted city status in 2022 for the Platinum Jubilee: Southend-on-Sea, Milton Keynes, Colchester, Doncaster, Wrexham, Bangor, Dunfermline.