Topics
Leeds, 
United Kingdom
1,065,607 people lived in Leeds in 2025. It is the 480th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 5th largest in the United Kingdom.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Leeds governs, so it may be far from the number the city publishes about itself. How the UN measures a city.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How Leeds grew
Count 10 people in Leeds in 1975 and the same count gives 12.4 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 1.1 million people in 2050. It passed a million people between 2015 and 2020.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: one column every five years, 1975 to 2050; its height is the number of people. Hatched columns are the UN's projection. The thin strip beneath says how sure the UN is of each figure: the stronger the colour, the surer. A blank means the place was not on the UN's list of cities that year.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
Leeds through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Leeds in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
United Kingdom · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: every dot is one of the 150 cities in the United Kingdom in 2025, and a dot's area is how many people live there, the biggest being London. The ringed dot in colour is Leeds; the grey dots are the rest. The outlines around them are neighbouring countries.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Leeds covered 323 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 74 km² of it. That is 70 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 8 by 8 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown by 58%, and its people have grown by 24%.
How to read this: each pale square is the city's whole area, the strong square inside it the part that is built on; one scale for all three, so a bigger square is more land. Hatched is the UN's projection.
Of every 100 people in the United Kingdom
Its share of the United Kingdom
Of every 100 people in the United Kingdom in 2025, 2 lived in Leeds, which is 1.1 million people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in the United Kingdom, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have Leeds's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 476 Brisbane Australia1,071,628
- 477 Zhangjiagang China1,068,192
- 478 Sofia Bulgaria1,067,136
- 479 Rostov-on-Don Russia1,065,880
- 480 Leeds1,065,607
- 481 Astana Kazakhstan1,065,387
- 482 João Pessoa Brazil1,064,481
- 483 Honghuagang China1,062,992
- 484 Naha Japan1,060,017
In the United Kingdom, 2025
- 33 London10,416,420
- 191 Birmingham2,631,757
- 196 Manchester2,535,427
- 418 Liverpool1,227,470
- 480 Leeds1,065,607
- 533 Glasgow970,320
- 700 Newcastle upon Tyne760,969
- 835 Nottingham649,610
- 875 Bristol615,703
How to read this: names are in order of size, the leading number being each city's rank among all 12,138 in 2025; the bars share a scale within a list. A jump in the ranks means a city under 300,000 people, which is not given a page here.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Leeds are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1975 to 2025, then projection to 2050. Projected years are drawn hatched, and the UN publishes no range of uncertainty for a city. What a city means here, how the UN measures one, and why that number can differ from the one Leeds publishes about itself: how the figures here are put together.
Sources: UN WUP 2025 · Natural Earth · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries