Medway population, 2001–2024
Medway has an estimated population of 292,655 (mid-2024), up 17.2% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Medway local authority area.
292,655
population, mid-2024
+17.2%
since 2001
+6.8%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (292,655)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 292,655 | +1.6% |
| 2023 | 288,003 | +1.9% |
| 2022 | 282,750 | +1.0% |
| 2021 | 279,903 | -0.2% |
| 2020 | 280,364 | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 279,852 | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 278,827 | +0.1% |
| 2017 | 278,652 | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 277,504 | +0.5% |
| 2015 | 276,037 | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 273,977 | +1.1% |
| 2013 | 271,084 | +1.1% |
| 2012 | 268,144 | +1.2% |
| 2011 | 264,885 | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 262,738 | +1.0% |
| 2009 | 260,230 | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 258,224 | +0.9% |
| 2007 | 255,824 | +0.9% |
| 2006 | 253,478 | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 252,098 | +0.3% |
| 2004 | 251,459 | +0.1% |
| 2003 | 251,159 | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 250,262 | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 249,704 | — |
Food businesses
Medway has 218 takeaways, 309 restaurants and cafés and 116 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.71 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 7.4 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Medway has 170 hairdressers and beauty salons, 65 pubs and bars, 90 licensed restaurants, 185 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 Medway local authority area (code E06000035), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Medway?
292,655, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Medway 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 Medway growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 17.2% since 2001, from 249,704 to 292,655. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.