Exeter population, 2001–2025
Exeter has an estimated population of 137,894 (mid-2025), up 24.0% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Exeter 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.
137,894
population, mid-2025
+24.0%
since 2001
+13.4%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (139,007)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 137,894 | -0.8% |
| 2024 | 139,007 | +2.0% |
| 2023 | 136,288 | +1.2% |
| 2022 | 134,662 | +4.0% |
| 2021 | 129,527 | +1.7% |
| 2020 | 127,345 | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 126,312 | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 125,758 | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 124,817 | +1.2% |
| 2016 | 123,347 | +1.5% |
| 2015 | 121,583 | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 119,789 | +0.7% |
| 2013 | 118,994 | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 117,980 | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 117,063 | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 115,712 | +1.1% |
| 2009 | 114,419 | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 114,167 | +0.1% |
| 2007 | 114,109 | +0.9% |
| 2006 | 113,128 | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 112,970 | +2.1% |
| 2004 | 110,697 | -0.3% |
| 2003 | 111,064 | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 110,636 | -0.5% |
| 2001 | 111,180 | — |
High street businesses
Exeter has 95 hairdressers and beauty salons, 45 pubs and bars, 65 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 Exeter local authority area (code E07000041), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Exeter?
137,894, on the ONS mid-2025 estimate for the Exeter 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 Exeter growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 24.0% since 2001, from 111,180 to 137,894. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.