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Belfast — UN urban centre

441,925

Belfast: 441,925 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #1,262 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 220; territory: United Kingdom (GBR). UN source workbook.

Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.

Source centroid: 54.6013, -5.9369. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975301,514Estimate
1980314,473Estimate
1985326,581Estimate
1990343,679Estimate
1995368,069Estimate
2000397,610Estimate
2005403,167Estimate
2010407,056Estimate
2015413,389Estimate
2020429,540Estimate
2025441,925Estimate
2030457,621Projection
2035467,285Projection
2040526,801Projection
2045532,100Projection
2050541,746Projection

Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres

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This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.

Why an urban centre is not a municipality →

Interpretation reviewed 12 October 2026. Underlying reference years are stated on the page; this is not a fresh census or dataset refresh.