About this data

Source: Bank of England, A millennium of macroeconomic data (to 1970); ONS mid-year population estimates (from 1971)

• Up to 1970 the figures are the Bank of England's estimates, built from Wrigley and Schofield's reconstruction of England's population from parish records before the first census in 1801, and from censuses after that. The UK figures are for today's UK (Great Britain and Northern Ireland) throughout, and include armed forces serving abroad. From 1971, they are ONS's mid-year estimates; the two agree exactly in 1971.
• England's population before 1541 is estimated from sources such as the Domesday Book (1086) and the poll taxes of the 1370s and 1380s, and is much less certain than later figures. It fell by around 45% in the Black Death of 1348–50 and its aftermath.
• Population estimates are for the middle of each year (30 June), and count people who usually live in the UK.

This chart appears in Population growth.