Middlesbrough population, 2001–2024
Middlesbrough has an estimated population of 156,161 (mid-2024), up 10.6% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Middlesbrough local authority area.
156,161
population, mid-2024
+10.6%
since 2001
+12.3%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (156,161)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 156,161 | +1.6% |
| 2023 | 153,639 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | 149,339 | +3.7% |
| 2021 | 143,943 | +1.0% |
| 2020 | 142,459 | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 142,134 | +0.8% |
| 2018 | 141,057 | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 141,213 | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 140,649 | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 139,602 | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 139,030 | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 138,588 | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 138,472 | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 138,368 | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 137,667 | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 137,273 | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 137,885 | -0.2% |
| 2007 | 138,190 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 138,169 | -0.3% |
| 2005 | 138,517 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 138,451 | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 139,050 | -0.7% |
| 2002 | 140,090 | -0.8% |
| 2001 | 141,233 | — |
Food businesses
Middlesbrough has 172 takeaways, 240 restaurants and cafés and 83 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.72 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 11.0 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Middlesbrough has 95 hairdressers and beauty salons, 50 pubs and bars, 35 licensed restaurants, 125 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 Middlesbrough local authority area (code E06000002), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Middlesbrough?
156,161, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Middlesbrough 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 Middlesbrough growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 10.6% since 2001, from 141,233 to 156,161. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.