Page last modified 18 August 2023

230) United Kingdom (UK)

�Community

Area

United Kingdom, 243,610 square kilometres (land area 241,930 square kilometres)

England, 130,281 square kilometres

Northern Ireland, 14,135 square kilometres

Scotland, 77,925 square kilometres. In 2014 a referendum was held in Scotland as to whether that country should become independent from the United Kingdom. The vote was 55% against independence, 45% for, and Scotland remained a part of the United Kingdom.

Wales, 20,732 square kilometres

Population,

United Kingdom

400,000 (AD 1)

300,000 (AD 350)

800,000 (AD 600)

1,200,000 (AD 800)

1,700,000 (1000)

2,800,000 (1200)*

5,300,000 (1340)

4,000,000 (1500)**

6,200,000 (1650)

8,000,000 (1720)

10,700,000 (1800)

11,944,000 (1801)

13,368,000 (1811)

15,472,000 (1821)

17,835,000 (1831)

20,183,000 (1841)

22,259,000 (1851)

24,525,000 (1861)

27,431,000 (1871)

31,015,000 (1881)

34,264,000 (1891)

38,237,000 (1901)

42,082,000 (1911)

44,027,000 (1921)

46,038,000 (1931)

50,225,000 (1951)

52,708,934 (1961)

55,514,603 (1971)

55,679,496 (1981)

55,770,318 (1991)

58,789,194 (2001)

63,258,918 (2011)

66,488,000 (2018)

*80% of these were rural peasants, with no say in governance.

**Decline due to Black Death 1348-51 and subsequent outbreaks.

England and Wales, First census 1801

2,100,000 (1400)

2,000,000 (1480)

2,300,000 (1520)

2,700,000 (1540)

3,000,000 (1560)

3,600,000 (1580)

4,100,000 (1600)

4,700,000 (1620)

5,100,000 (1640)

5,150,000 (1660)

5,010,000 (1670)

4,930,000 (1680)

5,050,000 (1700)

5,350,000 (1720)

5,600,000 (1740)

6,150,000 (1760)

7,050,000 (1780)

8,892,536 (1801)

10,164,236 (1811)

12,000,236 (1821)

13,896,797 (1831)

15,984,148 (1841)

17,927,609 (1851)

20,066,234 (1861)

22,712,266 (1871)

25,794,439 (1881)

29,002,535 (1891)

32,527,843 (1901)

36,070,492 (1911)

37,886,699 (1921)

39,952,377 (1931)

43,757,377 (1951)

46,104,548 (1961)

48,749,575 (1971)

49,016,600 (1981)

49,193,915 (1991)

52,041,916 (2001)

53,017,000 (2004)

53,691,000 (2006)

England,

2,200,000 (1200)

4,800,000 (1348)

2,600,000 (1351)*

1,900,000 (1450)**

3,000,000 (1470)

41,000,000 (1951)

43,460,525 (1961)

46,018,271 (1971)

46,226,100 (1981)

46,382,050 (1991)

49,138,831 (2001)

51,446.200 (2008)

*Decline due to Black Death 1348-51 and subsequent outbreaks

** Low point of English population, post Black Death

Northern Ireland, A large number of Northern Irish were not counted in 1981 due to Catholic protests about Protestant hunger strikes

1,443,000 (1801)

1,397,000 (1811)

1,380,000 (1821)

1,574,000 (1831)

1,649,000 (1841)

1,396,000 (1861)

1,305,000 (1881)

1,237,000 (1901)

1,258,000 (1921)

1,243,000 (1931)

1,371,000 (1951)

1,425,042 (1961)

1,536,065 (1971)

1,532,196 (1981)

1,577,836 (1991)

1,685,267 (2001)

1,775,000 (2008)

Scotland, First census 1801

500,000 (1500)

800,000 (1600)

1,230,000 (1690)

1,265,000 (1755)

1,400,000 (1780)

1,608,420 (1801)

1,805,864 (1811)

2,091,521 (1821)

2,364,586 (1831)

2,620,184 (1841)

2,888,742 (1851)

3,062,294 (1861)

3,360,018 (1871)

3,735,573 (1881)

4,025,647 (1891)

4,472,103 (1901)

4,760,904 (1911)

4,882,497 (1921)

4,842,980 (1931)

5,096,415 (1951)

5,179,344 (1961)

5,228,963 (1971)

5,130,700 (1981)

4,998,567 (1991)

5,062,011 (2001)

5,078,400 (2004)

5,168,500 (2008)

Wales,

200,000 (1520)

380,000 (1600)

430,000 (1780)

590,000 (1801)

910,000 (1831)

1,060,000 (1851)

2,644,023 (1961)

2,731,204 (1971)

2,790,500 (1981)

2,811,865 (1991)

2,903,085 (2001)

2,993,400 (2008)

In 1974 the county of Monmouth was transferred from England to Wales, and renamed as Gwent.

Ethnicity (England and Wales)

	Asian other	Afro- Carib	Chinese	Indian	Pakist +Bangla	White British*	Mixed	Polish
1951				0.2	0.0	98.0		0.3
1971				0.6	0.3	97.0		0.2
1991	0.5	1.6	0.4	0.8	0.7		1.4	0.0
2001	0.5	2.0	0.4	1.0	1.0	91.0	1.4	0.3
2011	1.4	3.0	0.7	2.3	2.6	87.1	2.0	1.1

*Includes Irish

Religion, %

	Buddhist	Hindu	Christian Protestant	Christian R C	Jewish	Muslim	Sikh	None
1720				0.2
1750					0.1
1830					0.1
1840				0.4
1908					0.3
1937					0.7
1951					0.8
1980		0.8					0.3
1990				9.0		2.0		24.0
2001	0.3	1.1	71.6		0.5	3.1	0.7
2011	0.5	1.3	30.0	8.6	0.4	4.9	0.8	50.7
2016	0.5	1.7			0.5	5.6	0.7
2021						6.5

Birth and death rates E = England only Below replacement rate = 2.1

	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban
1100							1.1^1
1300							2.6
1500							3.7
1600							6.2
1700		31.3 (+4.0) E		27.0	39.0		15.4
1740				35.0
1750		35.0 (+5.0) E		30.0
1780							24.5
1800	5.0	34.0 (+8.0)		26.0			29.0
1840		32.2 (+10.4)		21.8^2			48.3
1850		34.3 (+12.3)		22.0			53.7
1860		34.6 (+13.0)	151.0	21.6			58.7
1870	4.8	35.0 (+12.4)	150.0	22.6			65.2
1880		33.9 (+15.0)	137.0	18.9			70.0
1890	4.2	31.4 (+11.2)	145.0	20.2			74.5
1900	3.5	28.6 (+11.3)	142.0	17.3	32.5	6.2	78.0
1910		24.0 (+9.5)	110.0^5	13.5		5.3	78.1
1920		19.9 (+7.2)	82.0	12.7			79.3
1930	2.4	16.3 (+4.1)	67.0^6	12.2	24.3	7.4	80.0
1940	2.4	15.9 (+3.1)	59.0	12.8		8.9
1950	2.1	15.8 (+3.9)	31.0	11.9	22.3	10.7	80.0
1960	2.0	18.2 (+6.3)	22.9	11.9	23.1	11.8	78.4
1970	2.0	16.2 (+4.4)	18.0	11.8	24.2	13.0	77.2
1980	1.9	13.0 (+1.3)	12.0	11.7	21.0	15.0	78.5
1990	1.8	14.0 (+2.8)	7.9	11.2	19.0	15.8	78.1
2000	1.6	11.5 (+1.2)	5.5	10.3	19.0	15.9	78.7
2010	1.9^3	12.9 (+4.0)	4.4	8.9	17.5	16.6	81.3
2015	1.8	11.9 (+2.7)	3.7^4	9.3	17.6	18.1	82.6
2016			3.7		17.6	18.4	82.8
2017	1.8	11.4 (+2.2)	3.7	9.2
2018			3.6		17.7	18.4
	Fertility Rate	Birth Rate	Infant Mortality	Death Rate	% Aged Under 15	% Aged Over 65	% Urban

¹Taking �urban� as meaning population 10,000 or more.

²In the major UK cities the death rate was considerably higher. In 1840s Liverpool the crude death rate was 39.2 per 1,000.

³For UK Jews, 1.98, for Ultra-Orthodox Jews, 7.0. For Muslims, 3.3. For Christians, 1.5

⁴By ethnicity,2015 infant mortality rates varied from 2.1 for White non-British mothers up to 6.5 for Black African mothers and 7.3 for Pakistani mothers.

⁵Rates varied from 76.0 for social class I (highest) to 153.0 for social class 5 (lowest)

⁶Rates varied from 33.0 for social class I (highest) to 77.0 for social class 5 (lowest). Rates were 32.0 in Coulsdon and Purley (Surrey) but 114.0 in Jarrow.

Life expectancy,(United Kingdom)

26.0 (1835), Liverpool.

40.9 (1838); 39.9 (M), 41.9 (F)

41.1 (1840); 39.5 (M), 42.7 (F)*

37.7 (1849); 36.8 (M), 38.5 (F)

44.6 (1860); 42.8 (M), 46.5 (F)*

43.0 (1870); 41.0 (M), 45.0 (F)

45.5 (1890); 43.0 (M), 48.0 (F)

49.8 (1901); 48.0 (M), 51.6 (F)

53.5 (1911); 52.0 (M), 55.0 (F)

57.4 (1921); 55.4 (M), 59.3 (F)

60.4 (1931); 58.4 (M), 62.4 (F)

63.8 (1938); 61.8 (M), 65.8 (F)

65.7 (1945) 62.6 (M), 68.8 (F)

68.7 (1951); 66.2 (M), 71.2 (F)

70.9 (1961); 67.9 (M), 73.8 (F)

71.9 (1971); 68.7 (M), 75.0 (F)

73.8 (1981); 70.8 (M), 76.8 (F)

76.0 (1991); 73.2 (M), 78.8 (F)

77.2 (2001); 74.5 (M), 79.9 (F)

80.0 (2011); 78.0 (M), 82.0 (F)

81.4 (2020); 79.7 (M), 83.1 (F)

* Figures for England and Wales only

1842; Average age of death, social classes inc. their families.

	Manchester	Rutland
Professionals, gentry	38	52
Tradesmen	20	41
Labourers and mechanics	17	38

2009; Life expectancy in the most affluent part of London; 86.6 (M, 84.3; F, 88.9).

Population of principal cities B � E, 1000s M = Metropolitan area

	Belfast	Birmingham	Bradford Yorkshire	Bristol	Cardiff	Coventry	Edinburgh
1377				9.5
1600				10			8
1700		4	20	20
1750	8.5	24					49
1801	20	74	61	69	1.9	21	83
1821				99			138
1831				121	6		162
1841				145	11	31	166
1851	100	233	104	160	27	48	194
1861				194	49
1871				229	71
1881	208		183	263	94
1891	256	478	216	298	142
1901	349	522	280	324	173	88	394
1911	385	526	288	352	210	117	401
1921				368	228	144	421
1931	438	1,003	298	384	247	176	439
1951	444	2,583 M	292	595 M	267	261	467
1961	416	2,775 M	296	639 M	279	296	600 M
1971	362	2,981 M	294	687 M	290	336	637 M
1981	314		457 M	384	275	310
1991	279		451 M	397	292	305	418
2001	580 M	2,456 M	483 M	433	346	317	448
2011	673 M	2,441 M	522 M	617 M	361	652 M	477
	Belfast	Birmingham	Bradford Yorkshire	Bristol	Cardiff	Coventry	Edinburgh

Population of principal cities G � L, 1000s

	Glasgow	Hull	Leeds	Leicester	Liverpool	LONDON
300 AD						45
1100						25
1300	1.5					100
1500						50*
1560						90
1580						120
1600	7					200
1610	7.6
1660	15			2.0		400
1700					5	650
1710	14				8.1
1730				15
1760					26
1780					39
1790	66				53
1801	84	21	94	17	78	1,118
1831	202	41	183		142	1,500
1841		57	222		250
1851	329	85	250		422	2,362
1861	447	93	311	68		2,803
1881	511	166	434	122	601
1891	658	200	503	174
1901	761	241	552	212	685	4,536
1911	784	278	606	227	746	7,160
1921		295	625	234		7,480
1931	1,088	309	646	239	856	8,100
1951	1,911 M	295	692	285	1,665 M	8,346
1961	1,959 M	290	715	273	1,742 M	7,992
1971	2,008 M	284	739	284	1,823 M	7,454
1981	774	267	697			6,696
1991	689	266	717			6,890
2001	587	244	715	279	439	7,172
2011	1,817 M	256	752	330	466	9,787
	Glasgow	Hull	Leeds	Leicester	Liverpool	LONDON

*Major reduction in London�s population due to the Black Death

Population of principal cities M � S

	Manchester	Newcastle On Tyne	Nottingham	Sheffield	South- ampton	Stoke- Trent	Swans-ea
1700	10			5.5
1740			11
1780	30		18
1801	75	33	29	60
1811	100
1821	108			85
1831			50
1841		72		134
1851	316	80			45	84	31
1861	357	142		220		101	41
1881				335			66
1891	505	186	214		65
1901	544	247	240	451	121		66
1911	714	294	260	455		235
1931	766	327	269	543		277
1951	2,509 M	1,125 M	599 M	577	353 M	503 M	305 M
1961	2,525 M	1,159 M	641 M	574	398 M	520 M	307 M
1971	2,541 M	1,193 M	686 M	776 M	448 M	538 M	310 M
1991	2,499 M	273	264	529
2001	423	259	267	513		241
2011	503	292	306	551	237	249	179
2016	2,794 M	1,650 M	916 M	641 M	856 M	678 M	301 M
	Manchester	Newcastle On Tyne	Nottingham	Sheffield	South- ampton	Stoke- Trent	Swans-ea

Wealth; Gross Domestic Product (nominal values), In 1348, immediately before the Black Death, English GDP per capita was US$ 803 in 1990 prices.� By 1351, after the Black Death had killed nearly half the population, GDP per capita at 1990 prices stood at US$ 1,083, and by 1400 it was US$ 1,390.� The rise was as a result of labour shortages.� The 1400 figure is comparable with many 21^st century African countries.

	GDP, US$ / UK� million Nominal values	Total GDP, % of USA	GDP per capita, US$	GDP per capita % of USA
1270	UK�4.6
1300	UK� 5.4
1381	UK� 4
1500	UK� 4
1600	UK� 23.5
1700	UK� 75
1800	UK� 253
1850	UK� 520
1900	UK� 1,846
1914	11,000		244
1938	UK� 4,985
1948	39,000	17.45	777	50.95
1956	45,850
1960	72,330	13.31	1,380	45.89
1965	100,600	13.53	1,850	48.33
1970	130,650	12.57	2,350	44.79
1975	206,000	12.60	3,665	46.87
1980	565,000	20.21	10,030	79.62
1985	489,200	11.61	8,650	47.35
1990	1,093,000	18.83	19,100	79.73
1995	1,320,000	17.84	22,750	75.66
2000	1,635,500	16.42	27,800	76.27
2005	2,510,000	19.17	41,524	93.72
2010	2,430,000	16.24	38,700	80.00
2015	2,861,000	15.86	43,930	78.16
2016	2,619,000	14.10	39,900	69.43

GDP by primary sector

	Agriculture % GDP	Agriculture % employed	Industry % GDP	Industry % employed	Services % GDP	Services % employed
1381	45.5		28.8		25.7
1520	39.7	75.0	38.7		21.6
1700	40.0	60.0	33.0	20.0	27.0	20.0
1760	35.0		37.0		28.0
1801	31.3	38.0	32.7		36.0
1830		25.0
1841	22.1		36.4		41.5	26.3
1850	22.0	23.5		45.6		30.9
1870	14.0	17.0
1880						30.2
1890	10.0
1900	9.0	13.0
1911		8.0				33.1
1931		5.9
1941		4.6
1950	5.7	5.0	40.4		48.6
1960	4.0	6.0	41.7	50.0	48.4	44.0
1970	2.8	4.0	35.9	44.0	54.6	51.0
1980	2.1	3.0	34.9	37.0	57.0	60.0
1990	1.8	2.1	26.7	26.7	64.7	71.0
2000	1.4	1.4	24.9	24.6	73.7	74.0
2010	0.7	1.3	21.6	15.2	80.4	83.5
2016	0.6		19.2		80.2
	Agriculture % GDP	Agriculture % employed	Industry % GDP	Industry % employed	Services % GDP	Services % employed

Communications

Language Official; English. See also Ethnicity above.

English, 98.5% (1990)

In 1931, 3% of the Welsh population spoke Welsh only and 31% spoke both Welsh and English. In 1958, 38% of the population spoke Welsh. In Scotland 0.2% spoke Gaelic only and 2.7% spoke both Gaelic and English.

Literacy; United Kingdom,

Ca. 30.0% (males), (1640), varying from 15-20% in the rural north west of England to 55% in Exeter and Norwich (lower in rural areas) and as high as over 70% in large southern towns. �For females (1640), 20.0% in London, and little over 0.0% in East Anglia.

1700, female, London, 50% (national female average lower).

Specific examples for 1760 (male literacy) include, Oxford and Northampton, 74.0%, Bristol, 66%, Kings Lynn 62%, Nottingham, 61%, Halifax 60%.

Unknown for females but would likely be much lower.

72.0% (1863) 77.0% (M), 67.0% (F)

77.5% (1871), 80.0% (M), 73.0% (F)

84.5% (1881), 87.0% (M), 82.0% (F)

93.5% (1891), 94.0% (M), 93.0% (F)

97.0% (1900)

99.4% (1906)

99.9% (1910 and after)

For prisoners in England and Wales, literacy rate was 65.0% in 1869, rising to 75.0% in 1888

Physical communications � roads

	Roads (km)	Motor vehicles 1,000s	Cars 1,000s	Commercial Vehicles 1,000s	Railways (km)	% electrified
1770	25,000*
1830	38,000*
1840					3,000
1850					10,700
1860					16,850
1870					24,630
1880					28,940
1890					32,300
1900		17	8		35,160
1904			9	4
1906		35	23	12
1910		150	53		37,630
1914		214	132	82
1919			110	62
1920		591	187	101	33,000
1921			243	128
1922			315	151
1924			474
1929				334
1930			1,177	354	32,600
1938	287,400	3,085	1,944		32,000	5.3
1941			1,400
1944			700
1950		3,970	1,979	700	31,000
1960		8,512	4,900	1,400	24,000	6.0
1965		12,900
1970		13,548	9,970		19,000
1980	338,000	19,200	14,660	1,600	18,030
1990	357,500	24,670	19,750		16,914
2000	373,000	28,370	24,050	2,550	16,700	30.8
2005	388,000	33,000	26,200	3,020
2010	395,000	35,479	30,100		16,454
2013		36,469	30,900
2014			31,100		16,837	31.8
2015		35,800	31,500
2016		36,700	31,700
	Roads (km)	Motor vehicles 1,000s	Cars 1,000s	Commercial Vehicles 1,000s	Railways (km)	% electrified

*Turnpikes, or regularly maintained roads. In 1830 these accounted for some 20% of Britain�s road mileage. The advent of the railways eroded the income of the Turnpike Trusts, which were liquidated. Maintenance of Britain�s roads was transferred to Local Authorities.

Urban metro systems, kilometres

London, The first section of the London Underground opened in 1863 (Paddington to Farringdon).� This was the first underground railway in the world.

408 (1989)

442 (2010), including Docklands Light Railway (34km, opened 1987)

402 (2012) ex DLR

Glasgow, Opened December 1896, this is the third-oldest underground railway in the world, after London (1863) and Budapest (1896).

10.5 (1980, 2015), 15 stations.

Newcastle, (opened 1980, first section Haymarket to Tynemouth via Benton)

77.7 (2010, 2015)

Electronic communications, 1000s. The UK telephone service began in 1877.� In 2007, 85% of UK households had a fixed-line telephone.� This was down from the peak figure of 94% in 2000. TV broadcasts began 1936; colour TV began 1967. World War Two delayed the spread of TV beyond the London area but there was rapid post-war spread of the medium. By 1953 all areas of Britain could receive programmes.

1926, London had 500,000 telephones

	Telephones (landlines)	In Homes	Public payphones	Mobile Telephones	Radios	TVs	PCs	Internet Users
1900	210
1912	700
1922	1,000				80
1923					200
1927					2,300
1931					3,100
1933	2,000
1936	2,900					10
1938	3,300	1,200
1939					8,900	20
1947						34
1948	4,653					74
1950					11,819	340
1951	5,650
1952						1,598
1958							0.16(1)
1960					15,163	11,076
1962	8,620
1965						13,358
1970	14,250	6,900
1971						16,569
1980	18,161					18,000
1985				50			2,100
1990	25,368			1,114	80,000	24,900	6,200
1993			104
1995				5,736	83,200	26,000	11,800
1997						30,500
1998			138					7,500
2000	35,228			43,450	84,500		20,190
2002			146					29,000
2004							35,900	34,900
2005				65,500
2006							48,600	37,600
2008			62					46,700
2010	33,320							52,000
2012	33,010			80,800
2013				81,700
2016	33,511							61,100
2017								62,091

(1) Total number of electronic computers in use, l60, not �PCs�.

Tourism: Visitors to United Kingdom,

504,000 (1948)

618,000 (1950)

1,669,000 (1960)

6,500,000 (1970)

11,465,000 (1980)

18,013,000 (1990)

21,719,000 91995)

23,212,000 (2000)

28,039,000 (2005)

30,870,000 (2007)

28,295,000 (2010)

34,436,000 (2015)