POPULATION OF GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND 1570-1931

Source ~ Whitaker's Almanac 1941

Previous to 1801 there existed no official return of the population of either England or Scotland; nor was it till 1813 that statesmen had anything more than surmise to guide them respecting Ireland, and the census then taken of that country was far from correct. The estimate formed of the English population at various periods, calculated from the numbers of baptisms, burials, and marriages, were in the years -

YearPopulationYearPopulation
15704,160,22116004,811,718
16305,600,51716705,773,646
17006,045,00817506,517,035

The first general census of Great Britain and Ireland was taken in 1801 and the population count since that time was -

YearPopulationYearPopulation
180116,345,646181118,509,116
182120,983,092183124,132,294
184126,854,969185127,533,755
186129,070,930187131,629,299
188135,026,108189137,880,764
190141,609,091191145,370,530
192142,769,196193144,790,485

The figures for 1921 and 1931 are for Great Britain only.

The population of Great Britain and Ireland a month before the outbreak of the War of 1914-18 was officially estimated at 46,089,249.

Go to Table of Population for:
England & Wales Scotland
Ireland The Islands

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POPULATION OF ENGLAND & WALES 1811-1931


YearMalesFemalesTotal
18114,873,6055,290,65110,164,256
18215,850,3196,149,91712,000,236
18316,771,1967,125,60113,896,797
18417,777,5868,136,56215,914,148
18518,781,2259,146,38417,927,609
18619,776,25910,289,96520,066,224
187111,058,93411,653,33222,712,266
188112,639,90213,334,53725,974,439
189114,052,90114,949,62429,002,525
190115,728,61316,799,23032,527,843
191117,445,60818,624,88436,070,492
192118,075,23919,811,46037,886,699
193119,133,02020,819,36739,952,377

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POPULATION OF SCOTLAND 1811-1931


YearMalesFemalesTotal
1811826,296979,5681,805,864
1821982,6231,108,8982,091,521
18311,114,4561,249,9302,364,386
18411,241,8621,378,3222,620,184
18511,375,4791,513,2632,888,742
18611,449,8481,612,4463,062,294
18711,603,1431,756,8753,360,018
18811,799,4751,936,0983,735,573
18911,942,7172,082,9304,025,647
19012,173,7552,298,3484,472,103
19112,308,8392,452,0654,760,904
19212,347,6422,534,8554,882,497
19312,325,5132,517,4574,842,980

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POPULATION OF IRELAND 1831-1926


YearMalesFemalesTotal
18313,794,8803,972,5217,767,401
18414,019,5764,155,5488,175,124
18513,190,6303,361,7556,552,385
18612,837,3702,961,5975,798,967
18712,639,7532,772,6245,412,377
18812,533,2772,641,5595,174,836
18912,318,9532,385,7974,704,750
19012,200,0402,258,7354,458,775
19112,192,0482,198,1714,390,219
19262,114,9772,113,5764,228,553

The arrival in 1845 of the American potato blight in Ireland caused one of the worst famines to strike the Western world in modern times. Between 1845 and 1850, about one million people died and another million emigrated. Movement of starving people in search of food encouraged the rapid spread of disease, including dysentery and typhus. There was a 20% fall in Ireland's population between 1841 and 1851. Every area except for Dublin and Belfast lost population; Ulster was less deeply ravaged than other parts.

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POPULATION OF THE ISLANDS 1881-1931
(Isle of Man, Jersey & Guernsey and associated islands)


YearMalesFemalesTotal
188166,08175,179141,260
189169,55578,287147,842
190170,57679,794150,370
191170,16678,749148,915
192169,07081,444150,514
193166,44775,952142,399

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