Yorkshire population

Figures from the 2021 Census


The population of Yorkshire has risen across almost every district of the region according to figures from the 2021 Census published by the Government's Office for National Statistics.

There were only two districts across the entire region where the population did not rise, both of them in North Yorkshire. The Census was before the North Yorkshire districts were amalgamated into a unitary authority in 2023.

In  Scarborough district, the published official Government figures show the population (rounded to the nearest 100) to have remained exactly the same as the 2011 Census, while in the  Richmondshire district the population has been in decline by 4.4%.

Rankings of districts by population size are much the same as in the 2011 Census, although similarly-sized populations of the large  Rotherham metropolitan district and compact City of  Hull unitary authority area swap positions. Also, a huge 10.2%  increase in the population of  Selby district means it has overtaken the population of  Hambleton in North Yorkshire. The average increase in population for England is 6.6%.

After  Selby, the districts with the biggest percentage rise in population over the 10 years are the  Wakefield (8.4%) and  Leeds (8.1%) metropolitan districts of West Yorkshire, the latter continuing to have Yorkshire's largest population of more than 0.8 million.

Following the creation in 2023 of the gargantuan unitary authority covering all North Yorkshire, it's worth noting the size of the combined population of the seven districts from which it is formed. At 615,500, North Yorkshire becomes the authority with the second highest population in Yorkshire, falling between  Leeds and  Sheffield. A major difference, however, is that the area North Yorkshire covers is about 22 times bigger than the large  Sheffield metropolitan district.

Switching to population density figures, the highest density authorities are  Hull and  Middlesbrough. However, the figures for these two relatively small unitary authorities possibly do not bear direct comparison with cities and towns in the large metropolitan districts in Yorkshire. The Hull and Middlesbrough authorities are confined almost entirely to the urban areas of Hull and Middlesbrough while their rural surroundings fall into other unitary authority areas. Metropolitan districts in Yorkshire, on the other hand, generally include several urban areas and also the rural surroundings and are typically cover around three times the area of metropolitan districts to be found in other parts of England.

The district authorities of 2021 with populations entirely, or almost entirely, within the boundaries of historic Yorkshire are ranked as follows:

Population totals  Switch to population density 

Districts within Yorkshire ranked by population
  1   Leeds Metropolitan district of West Yorkshire812,000 ⥣ 8.1% (751,500)
  2   Sheffield Metropolitan district of South Yorkshire556,500 ⥣ 0.7% (552,700)
  3   Bradford Metropolitan district of West Yorkshire546,400 ⥣ 4.6% (522,500)
  4   Kirklees Metropolitan district of West Yorkshire433,300 ⥣ 2.6% (422,500)
  5   Wakefield Metropolitan district of West Yorkshire353,300 ⥣ 8.4% (325,800)
  6   East Riding of Yorkshire Unitary authority 342,200 ⥣ 2.4% (334,200)
  7   Doncaster Metropolitan district of South Yorkshire308,100 ⥣ 1.9% (302,400)
  8   Hull Unitary authority 267,100 ⥣ 4.1% (256,400)
  9   Rotherham Metropolitan district of South Yorkshire265,800 ⥣ 3.3% (257,300)
 10   Barnsley Metropolitan district of South Yorkshire244,600 ⥣ 5.8% (231,200)
 11   Calderdale Metropolitan district of West Yorkshire206,600 ⥣ 1.4% (203,800)
 12   York Unitary authority 202,800 ⥣ 2.4% (198,000)
 13   Harrogate Shire district of North Yorkshire162,700 ⥣ 3.0% (157,900)
 14   Middlesbrough Unitary authority 143,900 ⥣ 4.0% (138,400)
 15   Redcar & Cleveland Unitary authority 136,500 ⥣ 1.0% (135,200)
 16   Scarborough Shire district of North Yorkshire108,800 = 0.0% (108,800)
 17   Selby Shire district of North Yorkshire92,000 ⥣ 10.2% (83,500)
 18   Hambleton Shire district of North Yorkshire90,700 ⥣ 1.8% (89,100)
 19   Craven Shire district of North Yorkshire56,900 ⥣ 2.7% (55,400)
 21   Ryedale Shire district of North Yorkshire54,700 ⥣ 5.8% (51,700)
 20   Richmondshire Shire district of North Yorkshire49,700 ⥥ 4.4% (52,000)
Other districts partly in historic Yorkshire
    Durham County Unitary authority 522,100 ⥣ 1.7% (513,242)
    Oldham Metropolitan district of Greater Manchester242,100 ⥣ 7.6% (224,897)
    Stockton-on-Tees Unitary authority 196,600 ⥣ 2.6% (191,610)
    North Lincolnshire Unitary authority 169,700 ⥣ 1.3% (167,446)
    Bassetlaw Shire district of Nottinghamshire117,800 ⥣ 4.4% (112,863)
    South Lakeland Shire district of Cumbria104,500 ⥣ 0.8% (103,658)
    Pendle Shire district of Lancashire95,800 ⥣ 7.0% (89,452)
    Ribble Valley Shire district of Lancashire61,500 ⥣ 7.6% (57,132)
Figures from 2011 Census shown in brackets ()
Contains public sector information licensed under the  Open Government Licence v3.0.

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