Doncaster population, 2001–2024
Doncaster has an estimated population of 319,765 (mid-2024), up 11.5% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Doncaster local authority area.
319,765
population, mid-2024
+11.5%
since 2001
+5.3%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (319,765)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 319,765 | +1.4% |
| 2023 | 315,428 | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 311,395 | +0.9% |
| 2021 | 308,697 | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 308,185 | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 308,438 | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 308,237 | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 307,058 | +0.3% |
| 2016 | 306,137 | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 304,311 | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 303,673 | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 302,991 | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 302,626 | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 302,468 | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 301,299 | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 300,184 | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 298,388 | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 296,215 | +0.8% |
| 2006 | 293,990 | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 292,174 | +0.5% |
| 2004 | 290,850 | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 290,111 | +0.5% |
| 2002 | 288,647 | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 286,900 | — |
Food businesses
Doncaster has 333 takeaways, 816 restaurants and cafés and 255 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.41 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 10.4 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Doncaster has 240 hairdressers and beauty salons, 130 pubs and bars, 90 licensed restaurants, 245 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 Doncaster local authority area (code E08000017), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Doncaster?
319,765, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Doncaster 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 Doncaster growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 11.5% since 2001, from 286,900 to 319,765. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.