Current UK Population

In a nutshell

Updated October 2011 using statistics for mid 2010 (source: www.statistics.gov.uk)

The UK population in mid 2010 was 62.3 million. This is up 0.8% on the previous year (the highest growth rate since mid 1962).

Further details are available in the ONS publication available here. The complete source data used in the ONs publication is available here.

Updated April 2011 using statistics for mid 2009 (source: www.statistics.gov.uk)

The UK population in mid 2009 was 61.7 million.
31.4m are female and 30.4m are male (n.b.: the figures do not add to 61.7m due to rounding)

Updated January 2010 using statistics for 2002 to 2008 (source: www.statistics.gov.uk)

The UK population in mid 2008 was 61.4 million.
The working population (aged 16-59 for women and 16-64 for men) is just over 38 million.
Over 21 million of the population are aged 50 years and over.
1.3 million people (2%, or 1 in 50, of the entire UK population) are aged 85 of over.
Most people in the UK are 43 years old.
Women over 90 continue to outnumber men by about three to one.
Nearly 11.8 million are over retirement age (65 for men and 60 for women). This is 19.2% of the total UK population, but 30% of the working population.
There are approximately 10,000 people in the UK aged over 100, with around 85% of them being women.

Updated April 2006 (source: www.statistics.gov.uk)

Over 20 million of the population are aged 50 years and over.
More than a million people are aged 85 or over.
More than 11 million are over retirement age (65 for men and 60 for women). This is 18.5% of the total UK population.
Women over 90 outnumber men by about three to one.
Between 2003 and 2004, the over 80s accounted for over 10% of the increase in the total population.
The biggest contribution to this increase was amongst men in their 80s and women in their 90s.