Orkney Islands population, 2001–2025
Orkney Islands has an estimated population of 21,920 (mid-2025), up 14.0% since 2001. Official National Records of Scotland mid-year estimates for the Orkney Islands 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.
21,920
population, mid-2025
+14.0%
since 2001
+1.9%
last 10 years
2021
peak year (22,030)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 21,920 | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 22,000 | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 22,010 | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 22,030 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 22,030 | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 21,970 | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 21,870 | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 21,830 | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 21,730 | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 21,640 | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 21,520 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 21,510 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 21,510 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 21,500 | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 21,420 | +0.9% |
| 2010 | 21,220 | +1.3% |
| 2009 | 20,940 | +1.0% |
| 2008 | 20,740 | +0.8% |
| 2007 | 20,580 | +1.2% |
| 2006 | 20,340 | +1.3% |
| 2005 | 20,070 | +1.2% |
| 2004 | 19,830 | +1.5% |
| 2003 | 19,540 | +1.1% |
| 2002 | 19,330 | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 19,220 | — |
High street businesses
Orkney Islands has 10 hairdressers and beauty salons, 5 pubs and bars, 10 licensed restaurants, 15 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 Orkney Islands local authority area (code S12000023), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Orkney Islands?
21,920, on the NRS mid-2025 estimate for the Orkney Islands 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 Orkney Islands growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 14.0% since 2001, from 19,220 to 21,920. The peak year in the series so far is 2021. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.