The largest cities of the United Kingdom: urban units, municipalities and metro areas
The United Kingdom counted three ways: by continuous built-up area, by municipality and by metro area. 107 urban units pass 100,000 people; the largest is Birmingham, with 1,121,375. The city of London has 8,961,989 people within its limits; its metro area, 13,917,244.
How the United Kingdom counts its cities
The Office for National Statistics published new built-up areas in 2022 for England and Wales; National Records of Scotland publishes settlements. The 2022 built-up areas are smaller than the older ones: large conurbations are split into their parts, so London appears as its boroughs (Croydon, Barnet, Ealing…) and not as one area. The largest single built-up areas are therefore Birmingham and Greater Glasgow.
The 25 largest urban units
Source: ONS / NRS, built-up areas 2022 (England and Wales) and settlements 2020 (Scotland).
| # | Urban unit | People | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 1,121,375 | 221 |
| 2 | Greater Glasgow | 1,028,220 | 274 |
| 3 | Leeds | 536,280 | 120 |
| 4 | Edinburgh | 530,990 | 126 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 506,565 | 110 |
| 6 | Sheffield | 500,535 | 115 |
| 7 | Manchester | 470,405 | 75 |
| 8 | Bristol | 425,215 | 73 |
| 9 | Leicester | 406,580 | 74 |
| 10 | Croydon | 390,719 | 69 |
| 11 | Barnet | 389,344 | 67 |
| 12 | Ealing | 367,115 | 47 |
| 13 | Newham | 351,036 | 34 |
| 14 | Cardiff | 348,535 | 75 |
| 15 | Coventry | 344,285 | 78 |
| 16 | Brent | 339,816 | 41 |
| 17 | Bradford | 333,950 | 64 |
| 18 | Bromley | 329,992 | 81 |
| 19 | Enfield | 329,984 | 53 |
| 20 | Wandsworth | 327,506 | 29 |
| 21 | Lambeth | 317,654 | 25 |
| 22 | Tower Hamlets | 310,306 | 19 |
| 23 | Redbridge | 310,260 | 38 |
| 24 | Southwark | 307,637 | 27 |
| 25 | Hillingdon | 305,909 | 77 |
The 10 largest municipalities and metro areas
| # | Municipality | People | Metro area | People |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 8,961,989 | London | 13,917,244 |
| 2 | Birmingham | 1,157,603 | Manchester | 3,401,347 |
| 3 | Glasgow | 626,410 | Birmingham | 3,139,339 |
| 4 | Manchester | 568,996 | Leeds | 3,038,914 |
| 5 | Sheffield | 556,500 | Glasgow | 1,790,662 |
| 6 | Leeds | 536,280 | Liverpool | 1,756,203 |
| 7 | Edinburgh | 514,990 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 1,727,457 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 496,770 | Nottingham | 1,660,718 |
| 9 | Bristol | 479,024 | Southampton | 1,411,241 |
| 10 | Cardiff | 372,089 | Bristol | 1,295,611 |
Municipalities: GeoNames, latest census or estimate. Metro areas: GHSL functional urban areas. Metro areas are named after their main municipality, which is not always the best-known name of the area.
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