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UK local authorities ranked by population

Birmingham is the largest local authority in the United Kingdom, with 1,182,920 residents at mid-2024. Isles of Scilly is the smallest, with 2,383. Here are all 361 councils, largest first, from the official mid-year population estimates.

By James Burfield, SEO consultant, Bath · Page updated 25 October 2026

1,182,920

Birmingham, largest in England (mid-2024)

650,320

Glasgow City, largest in Scotland (mid-2024)

382,028

Cardiff, largest in Wales (mid-2024)

352,390

Belfast, largest in Northern Ireland (mid-2024)

What this counts. A local authority is a council area, and its boundary rarely matches a city's or a town's: the Greater Manchester conurbation, for example, is split between ten councils. For towns on their built-up boundaries see UK cities and towns, and for the same place under each definition see definitions. The ranking uses mid-2024, the newest year with a figure for every council. England, Scotland and Wales already have mid-2025, shown in the Latest column; Northern Ireland does not yet, because each statistics office publishes on its own schedule.

#	Local authority	Nation	Mid-2024	Latest	2001–2024
1	Birmingham	England	1,182,920	1,176,960 (2025)	+20.1%
2	Leeds	England	842,884	840,550 (2025)	+17.8%
3	Glasgow City	Scotland	650,320	654,330 (2025)	+12.4%
4	North Yorkshire	England	633,692	639,133 (2025)	+11.2%
5	Manchester	England	588,597	588,256 (2025)	+39.2%
6	Somerset	England	588,173	590,972 (2025)	+17.9%
7	Cornwall	England	582,205	584,782 (2025)	+16.5%
8	Sheffield	England	580,235	579,517 (2025)	+13.1%
9	Buckinghamshire	England	578,432	584,296 (2025)	+20.7%
10	Bradford	England	559,818	557,758 (2025)	+18.9%
11	County Durham	England	536,793	539,146 (2025)	+8.7%
12	City of Edinburgh	Scotland	532,070	531,370 (2025)	+18.5%
13	Wiltshire	England	524,001	526,392 (2025)	+20.9%
14	Liverpool	England	508,202	507,915 (2025)	+15.0%
15	Bristol, City of	England	494,225	495,260 (2025)	+26.7%
16	Kirklees	England	445,780	445,832 (2025)	+14.6%
17	West Northamptonshire	England	441,277	444,218 (2025)	+27.6%
18	Cheshire East	England	420,472	425,459 (2025)	+19.4%
19	Croydon	England	408,636	410,085 (2025)	+21.9%
20	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	England	408,009	405,829 (2025)	+17.6%
21	Barnet	England	406,198	408,087 (2025)	+27.1%
22	Dorset	England	389,341	391,036 (2025)	+12.3%
23	Ealing	England	387,680	387,072 (2025)	+26.2%
24	Leicester	England	386,755	383,116 (2025)	+36.8%
25	Cardiff	Wales	382,028	381,516 (2025)	+23.2%
26	Newham	England	379,479	376,542 (2025)	+52.2%
27	North Northamptonshire	England	375,336	379,569 (2025)	+31.7%
28	Fife	Scotland	374,810	373,990 (2025)	+7.2%
29	Cheshire West and Chester	England	370,951	373,951 (2025)	+15.1%
30	Coventry	England	368,707	364,766 (2025)	+21.8%
31	Wakefield	England	366,925	369,450 (2025)	+16.3%
32	Brent	England	355,398	352,201 (2025)	+31.8%
33	East Riding of Yorkshire	England	355,378	360,334 (2025)	+12.9%
34	Sandwell	England	353,270	352,918 (2025)	+24.1%
35	Belfast	Northern Ireland	352,390	no newer figure	+7.2%
36	Wigan	England	344,245	347,089 (2025)	+14.2%
37	North Lanarkshire	Scotland	343,550	343,930 (2025)	+7.0%
38	Wandsworth	England	339,727	339,859 (2025)	+25.0%
39	Tower Hamlets	England	336,153	334,240 (2025)	+67.2%
40	Bromley	England	334,641	336,048 (2025)	+13.0%
41	South Lanarkshire	Scotland	333,070	334,330 (2025)	+10.2%
42	Shropshire	England	331,751	333,162 (2025)	+17.1%
43	Enfield	England	331,421	329,400 (2025)	+19.5%
44	Dudley	England	331,239	333,941 (2025)	+8.6%
45	Northumberland	England	330,615	333,975 (2025)	+7.6%
46	Nottingham	England	330,561	325,765 (2025)	+22.9%
47	Wirral	England	328,209	329,896 (2025)	+4.2%
48	Hillingdon	England	327,886	326,671 (2025)	+33.5%
49	Redbridge	England	323,006	321,829 (2025)	+33.5%
50	Doncaster	England	320,248	323,016 (2025)	+11.6%
51	Lambeth	England	318,864	314,298 (2025)	+16.6%
52	Newcastle upon Tyne	England	318,852	320,838 (2025)	+19.8%
53	Southwark	England	317,058	312,366 (2025)	+23.5%
54	Central Bedfordshire	England	316,062	321,605 (2025)	+35.1%
55	Bolton	England	308,904	309,732 (2025)	+18.2%
56	Milton Keynes	England	305,806	308,866 (2025)	+43.8%
57	South Gloucestershire	England	305,766	308,787 (2025)	+24.3%
58	Lewisham	England	302,432	301,037 (2025)	+18.9%
59	Stockport	England	302,184	304,879 (2025)	+6.2%
60	Greenwich	England	301,259	301,225 (2025)	+38.5%
61	Hounslow	England	300,047	299,486 (2025)	+38.9%
62	Walsall	England	294,626	295,722 (2025)	+16.3%
63	Salford	England	293,508	297,004 (2025)	+35.3%
64	Medway	England	291,691	292,697 (2025)	+16.8%
65	Sunderland	England	286,696	287,070 (2025)	+0.7%
66	Sefton	England	285,298	287,583 (2025)	+0.9%
67	Brighton and Hove	England	285,063	284,170 (2025)	+14.0%
68	Waltham Forest	England	283,782	283,713 (2025)	+27.8%
69	Wolverhampton	England	280,541	281,434 (2025)	+17.9%
70	Cumberland	England	280,014	282,343 (2025)	+6.2%
71	Havering	England	277,042	280,787 (2025)	+23.3%
72	Rotherham	England	276,332	279,161 (2025)	+11.3%
73	Kingston upon Hull, City of	England	274,727	273,257 (2025)	+9.9%
74	Derby	England	273,656	275,344 (2025)	+18.6%
75	Plymouth	England	271,904	271,361 (2025)	+12.8%
76	Harrow	England	270,987	272,612 (2025)	+29.0%
77	Stoke-on-Trent	England	270,010	272,282 (2025)	+12.3%
78	Hackney	England	268,651	266,241 (2025)	+29.6%
79	Haringey	England	268,524	266,218 (2025)	+21.4%
80	Aberdeenshire	Scotland	265,110	264,640 (2025)	+16.8%
81	Southampton	England	260,604	259,230 (2025)	+18.7%
82	Bexley	England	256,288	257,103 (2025)	+17.2%
83	Barnsley	England	251,325	252,784 (2025)	+15.2%
84	Oldham	England	250,725	251,915 (2025)	+14.7%
85	Swansea	Wales	250,594	249,429 (2025)	+12.1%
86	East Suffolk	England	249,581	250,106 (2025)	+9.6%
87	Swindon	England	243,324	245,286 (2025)	+35.1%
88	Rhondda Cynon Taf	Wales	241,793	241,015 (2025)	+4.3%
89	Trafford	England	239,618	240,981 (2025)	+14.0%
90	Tameside	England	238,895	240,822 (2025)	+12.1%
91	Luton	England	238,047	236,380 (2025)	+28.1%
92	Highland	Scotland	237,570	237,260 (2025)	+13.7%
93	Rochdale	England	234,919	237,641 (2025)	+13.8%
94	Barking and Dagenham	England	234,866	238,295 (2025)	+41.8%
95	Aberdeen City	Scotland	231,320	230,180 (2025)	+9.2%
96	Westmorland and Furness	England	229,821	231,307 (2025)	+2.5%
97	Islington	England	226,183	224,551 (2025)	+26.1%
98	North Somerset	England	224,667	227,160 (2025)	+19.0%
99	Peterborough	England	224,152	224,757 (2025)	+42.4%
100	Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	Northern Ireland	222,511	no newer figure	+26.4%
101	Camden	England	220,558	216,658 (2025)	+8.9%
102	Solihull	England	220,299	221,449 (2025)	+10.4%
103	Merton	England	220,020	218,891 (2025)	+15.1%
104	Westminster	England	215,694	212,367 (2025)	+6.1%
105	Warrington	England	214,640	215,425 (2025)	+12.3%
106	North Tyneside	England	214,110	215,401 (2025)	+11.5%
107	Sutton	England	213,672	213,972 (2025)	+17.8%
108	Portsmouth	England	212,936	211,475 (2025)	+13.2%
109	Calderdale	England	209,828	210,734 (2025)	+9.1%
110	York	England	208,237	209,118 (2025)	+14.9%
111	Stockton-on-Tees	England	206,018	207,158 (2025)	+12.1%
112	Gateshead	England	201,422	202,509 (2025)	+5.4%
113	Bath and North East Somerset	England	200,539	200,898 (2025)	+18.6%
114	Colchester	England	199,730	201,163 (2025)	+28.0%
115	Bury	England	198,136	199,271 (2025)	+9.7%
116	Richmond upon Thames	England	196,975	196,713 (2025)	+13.0%
117	Telford and Wrekin	England	196,090	199,378 (2025)	+23.7%
118	Bedford	England	194,881	196,398 (2025)	+31.6%
119	Basingstoke and Deane	England	192,965	194,037 (2025)	+26.2%
120	Basildon	England	192,810	193,489 (2025)	+16.2%
121	Herefordshire, County of	England	192,067	192,539 (2025)	+9.8%
122	Hammersmith and Fulham	England	190,803	190,216 (2025)	+12.7%
123	Huntingdonshire	England	190,370	191,941 (2025)	+21.1%
124	Carmarthenshire	Wales	190,346	190,037 (2025)	+9.6%
125	Maidstone	England	189,189	191,415 (2025)	+36.0%
126	Renfrewshire	Scotland	188,610	189,270 (2025)	+9.1%
127	St. Helens	England	188,397	189,890 (2025)	+6.5%
128	Chelmsford	England	188,328	190,570 (2025)	+19.7%
129	Charnwood	England	188,310	189,718 (2025)	+22.6%
130	West Suffolk	England	188,197	189,407 (2025)	+21.8%
131	Wokingham	England	187,433	189,024 (2025)	+24.7%
132	West Lothian	Scotland	186,160	187,240 (2025)	+17.1%
133	Southend-on-Sea	England	184,503	185,214 (2025)	+15.1%
134	Newry, Mourne and Down	Northern Ireland	183,115	no newer figure	+19.1%
135	Reading	England	182,809	183,762 (2025)	+26.4%
136	Thurrock	England	181,287	181,664 (2025)	+26.5%
137	Caerphilly	Wales	176,232	176,078 (2025)	+3.9%
138	New Forest	England	175,845	175,930 (2025)	+3.7%
139	Kingston upon Thames	England	172,964	172,761 (2025)	+16.0%
140	South Cambridgeshire	England	172,543	174,641 (2025)	+32.2%
141	North Lincolnshire	England	171,424	171,421 (2025)	+12.1%
142	Cherwell	England	170,734	172,178 (2025)	+29.4%
143	Arun	England	170,692	172,326 (2025)	+21.1%
144	Oxford	England	167,827	165,940 (2025)	+23.8%
145	Newport	Wales	167,405	168,584 (2025)	+21.6%
146	Wealden	England	166,776	168,308 (2025)	+19.0%
147	Slough	England	166,739	167,450 (2025)	+38.3%
148	Ards and North Down	Northern Ireland	165,415	no newer figure	+10.6%
149	West Berkshire	England	164,918	165,523 (2025)	+14.1%
150	Braintree	England	163,745	166,471 (2025)	+23.6%
151	Canterbury	England	162,372	162,612 (2025)	+19.9%
152	Knowsley	England	161,714	163,723 (2025)	+6.9%
153	Blackburn with Darwen	England	161,618	163,801 (2025)	+16.7%
154	Preston	England	161,593	164,498 (2025)	+23.9%
155	Dacorum	England	161,139	162,316 (2025)	+16.9%
156	Mid Sussex	England	161,122	163,566 (2025)	+26.5%
157	Falkirk	Scotland	159,850	160,230 (2025)	+10.0%
158	North East Lincolnshire	England	159,738	160,101 (2025)	+1.1%
159	Windsor and Maidenhead	England	158,760	159,776 (2025)	+18.9%
160	Swale	England	158,754	160,671 (2025)	+28.9%
161	Reigate and Banstead	England	158,579	159,413 (2025)	+25.2%
162	East Devon	England	157,986	159,637 (2025)	+25.7%
163	East Hertfordshire	England	156,766	158,033 (2025)	+21.4%
164	Tendring	England	156,408	159,060 (2025)	+12.7%
165	South Oxfordshire	England	156,315	158,084 (2025)	+21.8%
166	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	England	156,192	156,943 (2025)	+15.2%
167	Flintshire	Wales	155,898	155,954 (2025)	+4.9%
168	Warwick	England	155,541	157,925 (2025)	+23.4%
169	Middlesbrough	England	154,700	152,795 (2025)	+9.5%
170	Perth and Kinross	Scotland	154,490	154,930 (2025)	+14.5%
171	Mid Ulster	Northern Ireland	152,718	no newer figure	+28.2%
172	Derry City and Strabane	Northern Ireland	152,383	no newer figure	+6.0%
173	Guildford	England	151,682	152,148 (2025)	+16.9%
174	Lisburn and Castlereagh	Northern Ireland	151,669	no newer figure	+21.7%
175	Cambridge	England	151,666	149,872 (2025)	+38.0%
176	Horsham	England	151,071	152,016 (2025)	+23.6%
177	South Tyneside	England	150,736	151,255 (2025)	-1.3%
178	St Albans	England	150,722	150,757 (2025)	+16.7%
179	Vale of White Horse	England	149,421	152,217 (2025)	+29.1%
180	Dundee City	Scotland	149,330	148,390 (2025)	+2.7%
181	South Norfolk	England	148,384	150,396 (2025)	+33.9%
182	Antrim and Newtownabbey	Northern Ireland	148,100	no newer figure	+15.0%
183	Kensington and Chelsea	England	147,255	145,734 (2025)	-9.2%
184	Norwich	England	147,119	145,676 (2025)	+20.2%
185	Bridgend	Wales	147,088	146,986 (2025)	+14.3%
186	South Kesteven	England	147,049	148,069 (2025)	+17.8%
187	Breckland	England	146,784	148,095 (2025)	+20.7%
188	Stratford-on-Avon	England	146,196	148,772 (2025)	+31.1%
189	Dumfries and Galloway	Scotland	145,930	145,490 (2025)	-1.3%
190	East Lindsey	England	145,345	146,756 (2025)	+11.2%
191	Lancaster	England	145,332	145,237 (2025)	+8.4%
192	Blackpool	England	143,353	143,492 (2025)	+0.8%
193	Eastleigh	England	142,678	143,710 (2025)	+22.7%
194	Neath Port Talbot	Wales	142,627	142,028 (2025)	+6.1%
195	Thanet	England	142,158	143,618 (2025)	+12.2%
196	Elmbridge	England	141,985	142,484 (2025)	+15.7%
197	Causeway Coast and Glens	Northern Ireland	141,954	no newer figure	+8.1%
198	Stafford	England	141,610	142,903 (2025)	+17.3%
199	Nuneaton and Bedworth	England	141,554	144,042 (2025)	+18.7%
200	Isle of Wight	England	141,356	140,777 (2025)	+6.3%
201	Ashford	England	140,812	142,523 (2025)	+36.7%
202	Ipswich	England	140,042	139,457 (2025)	+19.5%
203	Mid and East Antrim	Northern Ireland	139,913	no newer figure	+9.8%
204	Torbay	England	139,862	139,486 (2025)	+7.6%
205	Exeter	England	139,007	137,894 (2025)	+25.0%
206	Redcar and Cleveland	England	138,788	139,541 (2025)	-0.3%
207	Teignbridge	England	138,296	138,607 (2025)	+14.1%
208	Wychavon	England	138,187	139,175 (2025)	+22.2%
209	Wrexham	Wales	137,921	137,977 (2025)	+7.3%
210	Broadland	England	137,892	139,652 (2025)	+16.1%
211	Gloucester	England	137,857	138,565 (2025)	+25.4%
212	Epping Forest	England	137,184	138,394 (2025)	+13.4%
213	North Hertfordshire	England	136,818	137,365 (2025)	+16.9%
214	Tonbridge and Malling	England	136,685	137,913 (2025)	+26.8%
215	Winchester	England	135,444	136,856 (2025)	+26.3%
216	Vale of Glamorgan	Wales	135,311	135,362 (2025)	+13.4%
217	Test Valley	England	135,169	135,698 (2025)	+22.9%
218	Powys	Wales	134,855	134,843 (2025)	+6.7%
219	Waverley	England	134,737	137,218 (2025)	+16.5%
220	North Ayrshire	Scotland	133,830	133,660 (2025)	-1.5%
221	Halton	England	131,247	131,912 (2025)	+10.7%
222	Bracknell Forest	England	130,502	132,145 (2025)	+19.0%
223	Amber Valley	England	130,238	131,894 (2025)	+11.7%
224	East Staffordshire	England	130,069	131,541 (2025)	+25.1%
225	East Hampshire	England	129,865	130,599 (2025)	+18.7%
226	Ashfield	England	129,210	130,581 (2025)	+15.9%
227	Chichester	England	129,206	130,224 (2025)	+21.3%
228	Newark and Sherwood	England	127,863	128,684 (2025)	+20.2%
229	Newcastle-under-Lyme	England	127,474	128,093 (2025)	+4.5%
230	Havant	England	126,794	127,362 (2025)	+8.5%
231	Rushcliffe	England	126,124	127,857 (2025)	+19.2%
232	Pembrokeshire	Wales	125,670	125,849 (2025)	+11.2%
233	Stroud	England	125,507	126,418 (2025)	+16.1%
234	Bassetlaw	England	124,742	126,454 (2025)	+15.7%
235	Dartford	England	124,594	126,297 (2025)	+45.0%
236	Crawley	England	123,758	124,462 (2025)	+23.2%
237	Welwyn Hatfield	England	123,051	121,748 (2025)	+26.1%
238	Rugby	England	122,666	125,594 (2025)	+40.2%
239	Sevenoaks	England	122,650	123,183 (2025)	+12.3%
240	North Kesteven	England	122,346	123,267 (2025)	+29.6%
241	West Lancashire	England	122,054	123,564 (2025)	+12.5%
242	Cheltenham	England	121,461	121,452 (2025)	+10.4%
243	East Ayrshire	Scotland	121,320	121,350 (2025)	+0.8%
244	West Oxfordshire	England	120,826	121,412 (2025)	+26.3%
245	Gwynedd	Wales	120,713	120,295 (2025)	+3.3%
246	Chorley	England	120,579	121,814 (2025)	+19.9%
247	Gedling	England	119,996	121,105 (2025)	+7.3%
248	Dover	England	119,805	121,055 (2025)	+14.5%
249	Tunbridge Wells	England	119,435	120,098 (2025)	+14.8%
250	Wyre	England	118,366	120,528 (2025)	+11.9%
251	Fermanagh and Omagh	Northern Ireland	117,687	no newer figure	+11.3%
252	Scottish Borders	Scotland	117,190	116,800 (2025)	+9.6%
253	South Derbyshire	England	117,169	119,441 (2025)	+43.3%
254	Hinckley and Bosworth	England	116,612	118,240 (2025)	+16.4%
255	South Ribble	England	115,727	117,554 (2025)	+11.3%
256	Fareham	England	115,208	115,373 (2025)	+6.5%
257	East Lothian	Scotland	115,180	116,460 (2025)	+27.7%
258	Angus	Scotland	114,930	114,610 (2025)	+6.1%
259	Conwy	Wales	114,435	114,421 (2025)	+4.3%
260	South Staffordshire	England	114,174	114,811 (2025)	+7.8%
261	Broxtowe	England	114,124	113,963 (2025)	+6.2%
262	Erewash	England	113,816	113,474 (2025)	+3.4%
263	Worthing	England	113,515	113,844 (2025)	+16.2%
264	Mansfield	England	113,291	113,682 (2025)	+15.5%
265	South Ayrshire	Scotland	112,270	112,280 (2025)	+0.1%
266	Darlington	England	112,150	113,402 (2025)	+14.6%
267	Folkestone and Hythe	England	111,908	112,163 (2025)	+16.2%
268	North West Leicestershire	England	111,876	113,263 (2025)	+30.6%
269	Lichfield	England	111,710	113,270 (2025)	+19.8%
270	Mid Suffolk	England	110,775	113,047 (2025)	+27.3%
271	Gravesham	England	110,715	111,221 (2025)	+15.6%
272	Hertsmere	England	109,993	110,242 (2025)	+16.4%
273	East Dunbartonshire	Scotland	109,680	109,550 (2025)	+1.3%
274	Blaby	England	107,845	108,423 (2025)	+19.3%
275	Watford	England	106,799	107,658 (2025)	+32.8%
276	Worcester	England	106,566	106,954 (2025)	+14.1%
277	North East Derbyshire	England	106,550	107,888 (2025)	+9.9%
278	Spelthorne	England	106,453	107,188 (2025)	+17.8%
279	Woking	England	105,981	106,197 (2025)	+17.9%
280	Chesterfield	England	105,807	106,419 (2025)	+7.1%
281	Rushmoor	England	105,444	106,185 (2025)	+16.0%
282	Fenland	England	105,442	105,930 (2025)	+26.0%
283	Lincoln	England	104,939	103,351 (2025)	+22.6%
284	Harborough	England	104,619	106,577 (2025)	+36.2%
285	Eastbourne	England	104,271	103,894 (2025)	+16.1%
286	Cannock Chase	England	103,955	104,299 (2025)	+12.8%
287	Wyre Forest	England	103,558	104,179 (2025)	+6.8%
288	North Norfolk	England	103,431	103,708 (2025)	+5.0%
289	Hart	England	103,031	103,335 (2025)	+23.3%
290	Lewes	England	102,323	102,648 (2025)	+10.9%
291	Broxbourne	England	101,886	103,130 (2025)	+16.8%
292	Tewkesbury	England	101,708	103,753 (2025)	+32.9%
293	Bromsgrove	England	101,413	101,973 (2025)	+15.4%
294	North Devon	England	101,035	101,281 (2025)	+15.2%
295	Great Yarmouth	England	100,666	100,957 (2025)	+10.7%
296	Midlothian	Scotland	99,720	100,390 (2025)	+23.2%
297	Pendle	England	99,643	100,203 (2025)	+11.6%
298	South Holland	England	99,638	100,758 (2025)	+29.9%
299	East Renfrewshire	Scotland	99,440	99,840 (2025)	+11.2%
300	Burnley	England	99,195	100,946 (2025)	+10.8%
301	West Lindsey	England	98,928	99,716 (2025)	+24.2%
302	Harlow	England	98,130	98,543 (2025)	+24.5%
303	Hartlepool	England	97,868	99,656 (2025)	+8.6%
304	Denbighshire	Wales	97,868	98,247 (2025)	+5.2%
305	Babergh	England	96,906	97,833 (2025)	+16.0%
306	Staffordshire Moorlands	England	96,528	96,764 (2025)	+2.1%
307	Rother	England	95,947	96,150 (2025)	+12.3%
308	Three Rivers	England	95,575	96,068 (2025)	+15.3%
309	Monmouthshire	Wales	95,098	95,329 (2025)	+11.9%
310	Uttlesford	England	94,953	96,762 (2025)	+37.7%
311	Moray	Scotland	94,890	94,730 (2025)	+9.1%
312	Stirling	Scotland	94,620	94,040 (2025)	+9.8%
313	Surrey Heath	England	94,276	95,094 (2025)	+17.4%
314	Torfaen	Wales	94,034	93,973 (2025)	+3.4%
315	East Cambridgeshire	England	93,197	94,599 (2025)	+27.0%
316	Runnymede	England	92,321	93,013 (2025)	+18.3%
317	South Hams	England	92,054	93,171 (2025)	+12.4%
318	High Peak	England	91,892	91,676 (2025)	+2.8%
319	Cotswold	England	91,728	91,563 (2025)	+14.1%
320	Stevenage	England	91,234	92,081 (2025)	+14.3%
321	Hastings	England	91,017	90,855 (2025)	+6.6%
322	Castle Point	England	90,121	90,613 (2025)	+4.0%
323	Tandridge	England	90,058	90,322 (2025)	+13.5%
324	Forest of Dean	England	89,848	90,157 (2025)	+12.2%
325	Rochford	England	89,521	90,760 (2025)	+13.8%
326	West Dunbartonshire	Scotland	88,820	88,340 (2025)	-4.8%
327	Mole Valley	England	88,541	88,808 (2025)	+10.3%
328	Argyll and Bute	Scotland	87,780	87,310 (2025)	-3.9%
329	Redditch	England	87,728	87,548 (2025)	+11.4%
330	Hyndburn	England	85,895	86,908 (2025)	+5.4%
331	Fylde	England	85,453	86,689 (2025)	+16.5%
332	Mid Devon	England	85,102	85,593 (2025)	+21.8%
333	Bolsover	England	83,679	84,397 (2025)	+16.4%
334	Malvern Hills	England	83,262	84,380 (2025)	+15.4%
335	Epsom and Ewell	England	83,179	83,370 (2025)	+24.0%
336	Gosport	England	82,727	82,618 (2025)	+7.9%
337	Tamworth	England	80,877	81,392 (2025)	+8.4%
338	Brentwood	England	78,959	80,104 (2025)	+15.3%
339	Inverclyde	Scotland	78,740	78,550 (2025)	-6.4%
340	Rossendale	England	72,841	73,688 (2025)	+11.0%
341	Ceredigion	Wales	72,726	72,696 (2025)	-3.6%
342	Boston	England	72,288	72,092 (2025)	+29.5%
343	Derbyshire Dales	England	71,762	72,028 (2025)	+3.4%
344	Torridge	England	69,714	70,378 (2025)	+17.9%
345	Maldon	England	69,039	70,196 (2025)	+15.9%
346	Isle of Anglesey	Wales	68,873	68,607 (2025)	+1.6%
347	Blaenau Gwent	Wales	67,712	67,593 (2025)	-3.3%
348	North Warwickshire	England	67,045	67,688 (2025)	+8.5%
349	Ribble Valley	England	65,761	66,938 (2025)	+21.7%
350	Adur	England	64,736	64,802 (2025)	+8.4%
351	Oadby and Wigston	England	61,293	61,533 (2025)	+9.9%
352	West Devon	England	58,849	58,980 (2025)	+20.4%
353	Merthyr Tydfil	Wales	58,722	58,362 (2025)	+4.5%
354	Melton	England	53,922	54,694 (2025)	+12.6%
355	Clackmannanshire	Scotland	51,970	51,610 (2025)	+8.1%
356	Rutland	England	41,382	41,629 (2025)	+19.6%
357	Na h-Eileanan Siar	Scotland	25,930	25,770 (2025)	-2.0%
358	Shetland Islands	Scotland	22,800	22,710 (2025)	+3.8%
359	Orkney Islands	Scotland	22,000	21,920 (2025)	+14.5%
360	City of London	England	15,497	15,631 (2025)	+110.6%
361	Isles of Scilly	England	2,383	2,299 (2025)	+11.4%

Each council links to its own page with every year since 2001. Which areas grew and shrank fastest is on UK population trends, and why London has several correct populations at once is in how many people live in London.

Common questions

What is the largest local authority in the UK?

Birmingham, with 1,182,920 residents at mid-2024, ahead of Leeds (842,884). Size here follows how councils were drawn: one council can cover a whole city, while big conurbations such as Greater Manchester and Greater London are split between many.

What is the smallest local authority in the UK?

Isles of Scilly, with 2,383 residents at mid-2024. The next smallest is City of London (15,497). Both are far below the typical council: the median UK local authority has 148,384 residents.

How many local authorities are there in the UK?

This list holds 361: 296 in England, 32 in Scotland, 22 in Wales and 11 in Northern Ireland. These are the councils the official population estimates are published for, counting each of England's two-tier county areas by its district councils.

Why is London not the largest local authority?

London is governed by 33 local authorities: the 32 boroughs and the City of London, which together hold 9,149,646 people. The largest of them, Croydon, has 408,636. Greater London as a whole is a region, so its total sits outside a list of councils.

Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, with NRS for Scotland and NISRA for Northern Ireland, retrieved via Nomis. Change runs from mid-2001 to mid-2024 for every council, on today's council boundaries.