Chorley population, 2001–2024
Chorley has an estimated population of 120,839 (mid-2024), up 20.2% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Chorley local authority area.
120,839
population, mid-2024
+20.2%
since 2001
+8.7%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (120,839)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 120,839 | +0.8% |
| 2023 | 119,823 | +1.0% |
| 2022 | 118,677 | +0.7% |
| 2021 | 117,908 | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 117,178 | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 116,762 | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 115,739 | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 114,810 | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 113,593 | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 112,418 | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 111,174 | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 110,160 | +1.1% |
| 2012 | 108,916 | +1.2% |
| 2011 | 107,591 | +1.1% |
| 2010 | 106,443 | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 105,682 | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 105,396 | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 104,362 | +0.5% |
| 2006 | 103,807 | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 103,279 | +0.5% |
| 2004 | 102,778 | +0.8% |
| 2003 | 102,003 | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 101,142 | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 100,559 | — |
Food businesses
Chorley has 130 takeaways, 141 restaurants and cafés and 105 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.92 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 10.8 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Chorley has 95 hairdressers and beauty salons, 85 pubs and bars, 40 licensed restaurants, 80 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 Chorley local authority area (code E07000118), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Chorley?
120,839, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Chorley 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 Chorley growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 20.2% since 2001, from 100,559 to 120,839. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.