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Manchester — UN urban centre

2,535,427

Manchester: 2,535,427 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #196 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 3388; 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: 53.4938, -2.2554. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
19752,174,141Estimate
19802,140,027Estimate
19852,095,712Estimate
19902,068,496Estimate
19952,079,040Estimate
20002,115,814Estimate
20052,202,304Estimate
20102,294,760Estimate
20152,374,806Estimate
20202,486,959Estimate
20252,535,427Estimate
20302,567,727Projection
20352,586,331Projection
20402,595,873Projection
20452,639,151Projection
20502,638,194Projection

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.