Greater London · England
London population
8,961,989people · latest estimate
Photo: Ilya Grigorik, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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London has a population of 8,961,989, making it the largest place in Greater London. In 2005 the World Gazetteer recorded 7,421,209, a rise of 20.8% since.
The other populations of London
The same name covers more than one area, and each has its own figure.
| What you mean | Population | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The place itself The populated settlement, roughly the built-up core. |
8,961,989 | GeoNames |
| The agglomeration The continuous urban area, including places that have grown into it. |
12,599,561 | World Gazetteer (2005) |
| The place in 2005 The same settlement twenty years earlier. |
7,421,209 | World Gazetteer (2005) |
Why these differ: which population figure is right? · compare with another place
The 2005 figure is from the World Gazetteer archive and may draw its boundary differently from the current source, so treat the change as indicative. Sources: method.
London in context
11,747,957
people live within 10 km
#1
largest of 6,358 UK places
Distances are straight-line from the settlement's recorded coordinates. The 10 km figure sums the recorded places within that radius, so it describes how built-up the surroundings are rather than people per square kilometre.
The centre of London sits in postcode district WC2N.
Common questions
What is the population of London?
The populated place itself holds 8,961,989 residents. Greater London's 33 boroughs sum to 9,089,736 on the latest official estimates. Each figure describes a different boundary and all are correct; the meanings table on this page says which is which, because a population without its boundary is not an answer.
Is London the biggest city in Europe?
By city-proper population London (8,961,989) is the largest in the UK and in western Europe, though Moscow and Istanbul are larger on the continent as a whole. Every comparison of this kind depends on where each city's boundary is drawn, which is why the answer changes between sources; our article on London's population sets out the competing definitions.
Go deeper
Nearby in Greater London
| # | Place | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brent | 329,100 |
| 2 | Islington | 319,143 |
| 3 | City of Westminster | 247,614 |
| 4 | Bexley | 228,000 |