Geography & population
Key points
- As a UK city, London is unique in both its scale and diversity.
- London's boroughs are 'cities' in their own right. The population of London accounts for about 15% of the total population of England and is more than seven times the size of Birmingham, the next largest city in the country.
- London's current population is still well below the levels seen in the 1950s and early 1960s.
- In every year but one, more people have left London than moved here over the past decade.
- In 2010, 11% of the Inner London population moved either in or out, compared to 8% of the Outer London population.
- London's population has grown in recent years because of natural change – a high birth rate and a low death rate. The proportion of 16-29 year olds is far higher in Inner than Outer London, which is in turn higher than the rest of the country. In addition, Inner London has a far lower proportion aged over 60 than either Outer London or the rest of England.
Find out more about Geography & population by visiting the indicators in this section, listed on the right.
As London has some unique population characteristics, this section provides some important background to the all the indicators on poverty and inequality on this site.