New Forest population, 2001–2024
New Forest has an estimated population of 176,116 (mid-2024), up 3.9% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the New Forest local authority area.
176,116
population, mid-2024
+3.9%
since 2001
-1.0%
last 10 years
2014
peak year (177,875)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 176,116 | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 175,724 | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 175,937 | -0.2% |
| 2021 | 176,217 | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 175,937 | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 177,111 | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 177,525 | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 177,616 | -0.1% |
| 2016 | 177,855 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 177,813 | -0.0% |
| 2014 | 177,875 | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 177,362 | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 177,030 | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 176,789 | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 176,323 | +0.5% |
| 2009 | 175,432 | +0.5% |
| 2008 | 174,548 | +0.3% |
| 2007 | 174,048 | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 173,269 | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 172,423 | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 171,769 | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 171,256 | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 170,595 | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 169,506 | — |
Food businesses
New Forest has 109 takeaways, 275 restaurants and cafés and 187 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.40 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 6.2 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
New Forest has 135 hairdressers and beauty salons, 90 pubs and bars, 95 licensed restaurants, 95 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 New Forest local authority area (code E07000091), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of New Forest?
176,116, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the New Forest 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 New Forest growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 3.9% since 2001, from 169,506 to 176,116. The peak year in the series so far is 2014. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.