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Luton — UN urban centre

273,544

Luton: 273,544 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #2,125 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 5977; 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: 51.8953, -0.4496. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.

UN population series

YearPeopleMethod
1975200,570Estimate
1980207,639Estimate
1985211,286Estimate
1990216,165Estimate
1995220,275Estimate
2000227,449Estimate
2005236,141Estimate
2010249,768Estimate
2015261,193Estimate
2020266,309Estimate
2025273,544Estimate
2030278,954Projection
2035284,250Projection
2040287,127Projection
2045289,749Projection
2050293,001Projection

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.

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