Dorset population, 2001–2024
Dorset has an estimated population of 389,947 (mid-2024), up 12.5% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Dorset local authority area.
389,947
population, mid-2024
+12.5%
since 2001
+5.8%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (389,947)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 389,947 | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 386,151 | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 383,509 | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 381,245 | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 377,670 | -0.0% |
| 2019 | 377,699 | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 375,604 | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 374,675 | +0.6% |
| 2016 | 372,416 | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 370,728 | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 368,694 | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 367,651 | +0.3% |
| 2012 | 366,572 | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 365,897 | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 364,317 | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 363,567 | -0.1% |
| 2008 | 364,085 | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 363,069 | +0.9% |
| 2006 | 359,806 | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 357,679 | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 355,305 | +0.5% |
| 2003 | 353,367 | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 350,487 | +1.1% |
| 2001 | 346,596 | — |
Food businesses
Dorset has 311 takeaways, 942 restaurants and cafés and 424 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.33 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 8.0 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Dorset has 230 hairdressers and beauty salons, 290 pubs and bars, 215 licensed restaurants, 215 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 Dorset local authority area (code E06000059), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Dorset?
389,947, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Dorset 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 Dorset growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 12.5% since 2001, from 346,596 to 389,947. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.