Welwyn Hatfield population, 2001–2024
Welwyn Hatfield has an estimated population of 122,819 (mid-2024), up 25.9% since 2001. Official ONS mid-year estimates for the Welwyn Hatfield local authority area.
122,819
population, mid-2024
+25.9%
since 2001
+9.5%
last 10 years
2024
peak year (122,819)
Year by year
| Year | Population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 122,819 | +0.9% |
| 2023 | 121,668 | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 120,308 | +0.5% |
| 2021 | 119,747 | -0.0% |
| 2020 | 119,806 | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 119,180 | +0.7% |
| 2018 | 118,365 | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 117,617 | +0.8% |
| 2016 | 116,637 | +2.3% |
| 2015 | 113,972 | +1.6% |
| 2014 | 112,166 | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 111,990 | +1.2% |
| 2012 | 110,684 | -0.0% |
| 2011 | 110,727 | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 109,630 | +1.1% |
| 2009 | 108,434 | +0.9% |
| 2008 | 107,442 | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 106,694 | +1.5% |
| 2006 | 105,096 | +1.8% |
| 2005 | 103,202 | +2.7% |
| 2004 | 100,470 | +1.3% |
| 2003 | 99,198 | +1.1% |
| 2002 | 98,136 | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 97,550 | — |
Food businesses
Welwyn Hatfield has 61 takeaways, 187 restaurants and cafés and 52 pubs and bars on the FSA's statutory register (as of July 2026) — 0.33 takeaways per restaurant against an English average of 0.49, and 5.0 takeaways per 10,000 residents. How that compares across England.
High street businesses
Welwyn Hatfield has 85 hairdressers and beauty salons, 20 pubs and bars, 45 licensed restaurants, 60 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 Welwyn Hatfield local authority area (code E07000241), which can differ from the population of a town of the same name. Sources & method.
Common questions
What is the population of Welwyn Hatfield?
122,819, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for the Welwyn Hatfield 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 Welwyn Hatfield growing or shrinking?
Growing: up 25.9% since 2001, from 97,550 to 122,819. The peak year in the series so far is 2024. Year-by-year figures and the chart are on this page.