🌍 World Alive

Preston — UN urban centre

183,362

Preston: 183,362 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #3,288 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 3168; 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: 53.7625, -2.7026. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975139,219Estimate
1980142,987Estimate
1985146,132Estimate
1990150,053Estimate
1995153,066Estimate
2000158,075Estimate
2005163,006Estimate
2010168,681Estimate
2015175,550Estimate
2020180,117Estimate
2025183,362Estimate
2030185,384Projection
2035186,572Projection
2040187,113Projection
2045187,564Projection
2050187,443Projection

Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres

What changed during your lifetime?

Turn these figures into a private, five-scene personal world story.

Use this source record with the right definition

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.