The changing populations of Inner and Outer London

Key points

  • About 7.6 million people lived in London in 2008, the highest figure for 30 years.
  • The population is still well below the levels seen in the late 1930s, the 1950s and the early 1960s.
  • About 4.6 million people live in Outer London, compared to three million in Inner London. However, the rate of growth in Inner London since the 1981 census is 18%, compared with only 8% in Outer London

London’s population since 1931

charted data. Tabulated source data can be downloaded as a separate file.

What does the graph show?

London's population declined in the decades after the Second World War, hitting a low point of just below seven million in the 1981 Census. While both Inner and Outer London have grown steadily since then, the population is still well below the levels seen before the Second World War and the 1950s and early 1960s.

Outer London is bigger than Inner London - about 4.6 million people live in Outer London, compared to three million in Inner London.

The rates of growth, particularly since the early 1980s, are slightly different in Inner and Outer London. Outer London has grown from 4.3 million to 4.6 million, a growth of about 8%. In the same period, the population of Inner London has grown by 18% from 2.6 million to three million, a larger increase in both absolute and relative terms.

Data used

Census data for 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001, plus ONS mid year estimates since 2001

Further pages

Boroughs

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