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Oxford — UN urban centre

172,436

Oxford: 172,436 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #3,520 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 5278; 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: 51.7489, -1.2333. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975116,167Estimate
1980120,088Estimate
1985122,072Estimate
1990124,865Estimate
1995127,258Estimate
2000132,882Estimate
2005139,753Estimate
2010155,389Estimate
2015163,739Estimate
2020166,804Estimate
2025172,436Estimate
2030178,403Projection
2035181,762Projection
2040184,490Projection
2045186,800Projection
2050188,541Projection

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.