Manchester Population 2023

Latest data shows that the population of Manchester is 552,858.

Manchester is a city in the north-west of England, mid-way between Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield. It is the seventh largest city in the UK, and the sixth largest city in England.

First founded in 79 A.D. as the Roman fort of Mancuniam, Manchester became a city in 1853. The city boomed during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century and reached a peak population of 766,311 in 1931.

Manchester’s economy slumped after the Second World War and its population fell to a low of 422,700 in 2001.

Recently, Manchester has reinvented itself as a modern urban city and has seen renewed growth at such a pace that it has begun to compete again with Birmingham for the unofficial title of the United Kingdom’s second city.

Greater Manchester population

The population of Greater Manchester is 2,732,854. Made up of 10 boroughs and two cities, Greater Manchester covers an area of 493 square miles. It is the second largest urban area in the United Kingdom, after Greater London.

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county. It was founded on 1 April 1974, and since then has taken on increasing responsibility for local government in the area. In recent years devolution in Manchester (commonly known as Devo Manc) has seen the Greater Manchester Combined Authority take responsibility for issues such as transport, housing and healthcare in the region.

In 2017, the first mayor of Greater Manchester will be elected with wide-ranging powers.

Manchester Population Growth

Image source: Jamie,Taylor92

Between 1801 and 1901 the Manchester population grew by 700%. From just under 100,000 in 1801 rose to just under 700,000 in 1901 and a high of 766,311 in 1931.

From this high point the city’s population almost halved, to 422,700 in 2001.

Recent years have seen a dramatic recovery in Manchester’s fortunes. Urban redevelopment and increased economic prosperity seen the population boom again. Today Manchester is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the United Kingdom.

In just 10 years between 2001 and 2011 the number of people living in Manchester grew by almost 20% – from 422,700 in 2001 to 503,100 in 2011.

Rapid growth has continued and over the past five years (from 2011 to 2015) the population has grown by a further 30,000. Latest data available from the Office of National Statistics (via Manchester City Council) reports that the 2015 population of Manchester was 530,292.

Data on Manchester’s 2017 population will be released in the summer of 2018.

Ethnicity in Manchester

Manchester is an ethnically diverse city. In 2011 33.3% of the population was non-white.

The full ethnic composition of the city of Manchester is as follows: White 66.7%, Asian 17.1%, Black 8.6%, Mixed Race 4.7%, Arab 1.9%, Other 1.2%.

The ethnic composition of Greater Manchester is slightly different: White 79.8%, Asian 10.1%, Black 2.8%, Mixed Race 2.3%, Arab 0.6%, Other 0.5%.

Manchester Languages

Language data is not available for the city of Manchester, but according to the 2011 census English is the most commonly spoken language in Greater Manchester.

A full 92.1% of people in greater Manchester spoke English as their main language, followed by 1.2% who spoke Urdu, 0.8% spoke Polish, 0.7% who spoke Bengali, and 0.6% who spoke Punjabi.

Religion in Manchester

Christians make up the largest single religious group in the city of Manchester, with 48.7% of the population. Other major groups (with more than 1% population) are no religion (25.3%), Muslim (15.8%) and Hindu (1.1%).

A further 6.9% of people did not state their religion when asked in the 2011 census.

Manchester Population Density

Manchester covers an area of 44.6 square miles (115.6 km²). Based on the 2014 Manchester population of 520,215, Manchester’s population density is 11,650 people per square mile, or 4,498 people per km².

Greater Manchester is much less densely populated. It covers an area of 493 square miles (1,276 km²). With a 2014 population of 2,732,854, the Greater Manchester population density is 5,450 people per square mile, or 2,105 people per km².