Liverpool’s Changing Population: Numbers and Demographics

Nowadays, it is easy to think of Liverpool as being a large city with a population to match and to assume that that’s always been the case. In reality, however, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

For a time, Liverpool wasn’t even a city, instead being a small village that grew over time when the importance of its access to the River Mersey became clear.

In the years since then, Liverpool grew and developed to become a city of huge influence, only to wane again when the docks were no longer the gateway to the world.

How has the city’s population changed and altered over the years?

Population Figures

One of the best ways we can look to see how Liverpool’s population has changed over the years is by looking at the results of the National Census.

Obviously, this is far from ideal in terms of precise figures, given that some people might have filled it in incorrectly and others may not have been surveyed for one reason or another, but it does at least show us a snapshot of the city every ten years from when the first one was taken in 1801.

Here is what the Census says about the city’s population figures over the years:

As you can see, the population of Liverpool increased steadily year-on-year until a peak in 1931, after which point the population began to decline.

The biggest jump came between the Census of 1961 and that of 1971, which is largely down to the fact that the city worked hard at clearing the slums during this period. If you were to expand the border that counts as ‘Liverpool’ to include the likes of Runcorn, Skelmersdale and Huyton, the dip would be far less pronounced.

@ianpaulpendleton Thought I’d share this again, Old Swan 1960s #oldswanliverpool #liverpool #derelicthousing ♬ original sound – ianpendleton

Similarly, the reason why the population started to decline in the 1930s was mainly owing to the Second World War. The docks on the River Mersey made Liverpool one of the most strategically important British cities outside of London, which meant that it was heavily bombed.

That led to the people that were living in the city moving out to the suburbs instead. Add into that the number of people who died in the War itself and you can see why the population took a drop.

Liverpool’s Demographics

There are numerous bad faith actors out there who would like to convince you that Liverpool is overrun with immigrants. Whilst this is entirely untrue, it is also worth bearing in mind that Liverpool as a city was built on the back of immigrants.

Perhaps no city in the United Kingdom has been as heavily influenced by those coming from further afield as Liverpool has, up to and including the accent that the people of the city speak with.

According to Liverpool Council, this is the make-up of Liverpool in 2024, alongside the same figures for England in general:

As you can see, Liverpool’s population is proportionally more White than the national average, with smaller Asian and Black communities compared with the rest of England. Immigration has increased in Liverpool, with around 15% of residents born outside the UK according to the 2021 Census — up from 8% in 2011 — but this remains below the national average of about 17% for England.

Thankfully, the city has a long history of responding strongly to attempts to create division. During the 20th century, for example, Liverpool residents opposed the activities of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists and chased them out of town, demonstrating the city’s tradition of rejecting extremism and intolerance.