Wakefield population, 2001–2024
Wakefield has an estimated population of 367,666 (mid-2024), up 16.6% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Wakefield local authority area.
367,666
population, mid-2024
+16.6%
since 2001
+10.9%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (367,666)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 367,666 | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 363,013 | +1.4% |
| 2022 | 357,926 | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 353,803 | +0.8% |
| 2020 | 350,978 | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 348,201 | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 344,437 | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 340,749 | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 337,365 | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 333,908 | +0.7% |
| 2014 | 331,624 | +0.5% |
| 2013 | 329,888 | +0.6% |
| 2012 | 327,901 | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 326,433 | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 325,595 | +0.3% |
| 2009 | 324,467 | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 323,288 | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 321,650 | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 320,318 | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 318,765 | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 318,037 | +0.2% |
| 2003 | 317,469 | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 316,306 | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 315,380 | — |
Food businesses
Wakefield has 467 takeaways, 563 restaurants and cafés and 326 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.83 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 12.7 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Wakefield has 245 hairdressers and beauty salons, 180 pubs and bars, 90 licensed restaurants, 295 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 Wakefield local authority area (code E08000036), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Wakefield?
367,666, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Wakefield 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 Wakefield growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 16.6% since 2001, from 315,380 to 367,666. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.