Canterbury population, 2001–2025
Canterbury has an estimated population of 162,612 (mid-2025), up 20.1% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Canterbury local authority area. The newest year is provisional: when ONS published mid-2025 it revised the mid-2024 figure for 348 of the 361 UK authorities, so read the last point on any of these charts as the current best estimate rather than a settled number.
162,612
population, mid-2025
+20.1%
since 2001
+4.1%
last 10 years
2025
peak year (162,612)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 162,612 | +0.1% |
| 2024 | 162,372 | +0.5% |
| 2023 | 161,601 | +1.6% |
| 2022 | 159,081 | +1.6% |
| 2021 | 156,631 | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 157,187 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 157,109 | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 157,256 | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 157,944 | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 157,280 | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 156,143 | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 155,151 | +1.1% |
| 2013 | 153,475 | +1.2% |
| 2012 | 151,710 | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 150,600 | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 148,653 | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 146,396 | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 146,073 | +0.6% |
| 2007 | 145,197 | +1.2% |
| 2006 | 143,490 | +1.1% |
| 2005 | 141,918 | +1.0% |
| 2004 | 140,578 | +1.4% |
| 2003 | 138,608 | +1.6% |
| 2002 | 136,483 | +0.8% |
| 2001 | 135,381 | — |
High street businesses
Canterbury has 120 hairdressers and beauty salons, 85 pubs and bars, 100 licensed restaurants, 95 takeaways on the ONS business register (2025). Compare across the UK.
Rounded to the nearest 5, which is how ONS protects individual businesses from being identified.
Figures are ONS mid-year population estimates for the Canterbury local authority area (code E07000106), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Canterbury?
162,612, on the ONS mid-2025 estimate for the Canterbury local authority area. This page charts the full annual series back to 2001, so the figure sits in its twenty-year context rather than alone.
Is Canterbury growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 20.1% since 2001, from 135,381 to 162,612. The peak year in the series so far is 2025. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.