Dover population, 2001–2024
Dover has an estimated population of 119,768 (mid-2024), up 14.5% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Dover local authority area.
119,768
population, mid-2024
+14.5%
since 2001
+6.4%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (119,768)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 119,768 | +0.8% |
| 2023 | 118,781 | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 117,445 | +0.8% |
| 2021 | 116,549 | +0.4% |
| 2020 | 116,134 | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 115,902 | +0.7% |
| 2018 | 115,148 | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 114,335 | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 113,365 | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 112,464 | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 112,541 | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 111,979 | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 111,529 | -0.2% |
| 2011 | 111,718 | +0.6% |
| 2010 | 111,072 | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 110,061 | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 109,848 | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 109,041 | +1.1% |
| 2006 | 107,904 | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 107,475 | +0.6% |
| 2004 | 106,878 | +1.0% |
| 2003 | 105,784 | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 104,883 | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 104,646 | — |
Food businesses
Dover has 97 takeaways, 248 restaurants and cafés and 136 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.39 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 8.1 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Dover has 70 hairdressers and beauty salons, 90 pubs and bars, 55 licensed restaurants, 75 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 Dover local authority area (code E07000108), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Dover?
119,768, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Dover 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 Dover growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 14.5% since 2001, from 104,646 to 119,768. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.