Tower Hamlets population, 2001–2024
Tower Hamlets has an estimated population of 331,886 (mid-2024), up 65.0% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Tower Hamlets local authority area.
331,886
population, mid-2024
+65.0%
since 2001
+19.8%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (331,886)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 331,886 | +0.8% |
| 2023 | 329,143 | +1.3% |
| 2022 | 324,881 | +3.9% |
| 2021 | 312,715 | +1.9% |
| 2020 | 306,780 | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 305,066 | +1.7% |
| 2018 | 300,050 | +2.2% |
| 2017 | 293,526 | +1.6% |
| 2016 | 289,011 | +2.2% |
| 2015 | 282,674 | +2.0% |
| 2014 | 277,060 | +2.5% |
| 2013 | 270,294 | +3.2% |
| 2012 | 261,936 | +2.3% |
| 2011 | 256,012 | +3.0% |
| 2010 | 248,520 | +3.3% |
| 2009 | 240,495 | +3.7% |
| 2008 | 231,893 | +2.9% |
| 2007 | 225,251 | +3.1% |
| 2006 | 218,400 | +2.4% |
| 2005 | 213,382 | +1.1% |
| 2004 | 211,154 | +1.2% |
| 2003 | 208,651 | +0.8% |
| 2002 | 207,031 | +3.0% |
| 2001 | 201,090 | — |
Food businesses
Tower Hamlets has 337 takeaways, 1,179 restaurants and cafés and 159 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.29 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 10.2 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Tower Hamlets has 265 hairdressers and beauty salons, 115 pubs and bars, 285 licensed restaurants, 280 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 Tower Hamlets local authority area (code E09000030), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Tower Hamlets?
331,886, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 65.0% since 2001, from 201,090 to 331,886. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.