Stafford population, 2001–2024
Stafford has an estimated population of 141,556 (mid-2024), up 17.3% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Stafford local authority area.
141,556
population, mid-2024
+17.3%
since 2001
+7.8%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (141,556)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 141,556 | +0.9% |
| 2023 | 140,227 | +1.2% |
| 2022 | 138,596 | +1.0% |
| 2021 | 137,201 | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 135,685 | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 135,286 | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 134,069 | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 133,199 | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 132,507 | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 131,221 | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 131,312 | -0.1% |
| 2013 | 131,485 | +0.1% |
| 2012 | 131,324 | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 130,895 | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 130,001 | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 129,041 | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 128,320 | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 127,055 | +1.1% |
| 2006 | 125,620 | +1.0% |
| 2005 | 124,361 | +0.9% |
| 2004 | 123,224 | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 122,447 | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 121,409 | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 120,712 | — |
Food businesses
Stafford has 80 takeaways, 205 restaurants and cafés and 144 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.39 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 5.7 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Stafford has 95 hairdressers and beauty salons, 95 pubs and bars, 55 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 Stafford local authority area (code E07000197), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Stafford?
141,556, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Stafford 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 Stafford growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 17.3% since 2001, from 120,712 to 141,556. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.