Largest cities in the UK in 2020

London was by far the largest urban agglomeration in the United Kingdom in 2020, with an estimated population of 9.3 million people, more than three times as large as Manchester, the UK’s second biggest urban agglomeration. The English cities of Birmingham and Leeds had the third and fourth largest populations respectively, while the biggest city in Scotland, Glasgow was the fifth largest.

 Largest cities in Europe

Three cities in Europe had larger urban areas than London in 2020, with Istanbul in Turkey having a population of 15.2 million people, followed by the Russian capital, Moscow at 12.5 million. The city of Paris, located just over 200 miles away from London was the third-largest city in Europe, with a population of more than 11 million people.

London’s population growth

Throughout the 1980s the population of London fluctuated from a high of 6.81 million people in 1981 to a low of 6.73 million inhabitants in 1988. During the 1990s the population of London increased from 6.8 million at the start of the decade to 7.15 million by 1999. London's population has continued to increase in the 21st century, reaching a peak of 8.96 million people in 2019. and is forecast to reach 10.35 million by 2041.