Middlesbrough's 2026 population is now estimated at 160,100.In 2025, the population of Middlesbrough was 158,118.Middlesbrough has grown by 1,982 in the last year, which represents a 1.25% annual change.These population values and projections come from World Population Review Internal Projections.
Middlesbrough is a town located in the county of North Yorkshire in the North East region in England. Middlesbrough has a population of 138,400. The town is part of Teesside, which has a population of over 376,000. The city’s population makes it the largest town in North East England. The larger urban settlement is the largest within North Yorkshire.
The city of Middlesbrough has an area size of 54 square kilomters (21 square miles). With this in mind - along with the current population size - we find the population density to be near 2,563 residents per square kilometer.
Breaking down the population of Middlesbrough shows that over 88% of the population is White British. The population consists of 6.4% Asian residents and 1% Black residents.
There are many different religions observed throughout Middlesbrough, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism.
There is a higher concentration of female inhabitants than male.
Over 90% of Middlesbrough’s population was born in England. Other countries of origin include Pakistan, Scotland, India and China – just to name a few.
Over 94% of inhabitants speak English, while there are smaller groups that speak Panjabi, Arabic, Urdu, and Polish.
In 1801, Middlesbrough was a small farm with a population of just 25.
In 1828, Joseph Pease sailed into the area and just a year later bought just over 2 square kilometers of land that was serving as a farmstead. He quickly set to work and created an estate company that created a boom of business and expansion for the city of Middlesbrough. By 1851, the population had grown to over 7,500 residents.
The population continued to grow into the 1900s, reaching 90,000 by 1900 and jumping ahead again by the 1960s to over 160,000 residents. However, this would be the peak of population numbers for this town, as numbers began to shrink by the 1980s.
Throughout the years since the 1980s, Middlesbrough has seen a declining population. The population is expected to decrease in Middlesbrough according to current estimated population projections, dropping to just over 135,000 by the year 2021.
City | 2026 Pop.↓ | Growth |
|---|---|---|
| London | 9,188,200 | 0.54% |
| Birmingham | 1,199,447 | 0.67% |
| Leeds | 860,894 | 0.92% |
| Glasgow | 663,221 | 0.99% |
| Manchester | 605,521 | 1.34% |
| Cornwall | 591,594 | 0.71% |
| Sheffield | 588,768 | 0.54% |
| Bradford | 570,186 | 0.58% |
| County Durham | 543,515 | 0.51% |
| Edinburgh | 540,101 | 0.88% |
| Wiltshire | 531,890 | 0.78% |
| Liverpool | 518,060 | 0.89% |
| Bristol | 504,401 | 1.01% |
| Kirklees | 451,654 | 0.42% |
| Cheshire East | 431,445 | 1.2% |
| Croydon | 415,854 | 0.79% |
| Barnet | 411,361 | 0.78% |
| Leicester | 397,462 | 1.17% |
| Ealing | 392,217 | 0.8% |
| Cardiff | 391,495 | 0.98% |