World Factbook
United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - the island of Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Languages
English
note: the following are recognized regional languages: Scots (about 30% of the population of Scotland), Scottish Gaelic (about 60,000 speakers in Scotland), Welsh (about 20% of the population of Wales), Irish (about 10% of the population of Northern Ireland), Cornish (some 2,000 to 3,000 people in Cornwall) (2012 est.)
Religions
Christian (includes Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 59.5%, Muslim 4.4%, Hindu 1.3%, other 2%, unspecified 7.2%, none 25.7% (2011 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.02 male(s)/female
total population
0.99 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.85 male(s)/female
Birth rate
10.76 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
9.25 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
40.1 years
total
40.9 years (2025 est.)
female
41.5 years
Population
male
34,145,455
total
68,751,311 (2025 est.)
female
34,605,856
Nationality
noun
Briton(s), British (collective plural)
adjective
British
Tobacco use
male
13.3% (2025 est.)
total
11.5% (2025 est.)
female
9.8% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
84.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
0.8% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
16.7% (male 5,872,937/female 5,592,665)
15-64 years
63.9% (male 22,062,643/female 21,702,401)
65 years and over
19.3% (2024 est.) (male 6,069,865/female 7,158,544)
Ethnic groups
White 87.2%, Black/African/Caribbean/black British 3%, Asian/Asian British: Indian 2.3%, Asian/Asian British: Pakistani 1.9%, mixed 2%, other 3.7% (2011 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 18
0% (2021)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
56.7 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
26 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
3.3 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
30.7 (2025 est.)
Physician density
3.3 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
11.3% of GDP (2022)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
20.7% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
2.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
2.4 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.64 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
5.9% of GDP (2021 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
11.8% national budget (2021 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
4.2 deaths/1,000 live births
total
3.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
3.3 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
0.4% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.8 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
the core of the population lies in and around London, with significant clusters found in central Britain around Manchester and Liverpool, in the Scottish lowlands between Edinburgh and Glasgow, in southern Wales in and around Cardiff, and in far-eastern Northern Ireland, centered on Belfast
Life expectancy at birth
male
80.1 years
female
84.4 years
total population
82.2 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
8 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 99.8% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 99.8% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 99.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0.2% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0.2% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0.2% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
3.53 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
3.3 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
9.8 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
2.35 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.61 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
9.648 million LONDON (capital), 2.791 million Manchester, 2.665 million Birmingham, 1.929 million West Yorkshire, 1.698 million Glasgow, 952,000 Southampton/Portsmouth (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
27.8% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
29 years (2018 est.)
note: data represents England and Wales only
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
49.7% (2021 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
0.6% (2019 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
17 years (2022 est.)
total
18 years (2022 est.)
female
18 years (2022 est.)