Sherbrooke's 2026 population is now estimated at 186,803. In 2012, the population of Sherbrooke was 157,737. Sherbrooke has grown by 15,645 in the last year, which represents a 1.47% annual change.
Sherbrooke is a city located in Quebec. It is the sixth most populous city in Quebec, and it is the 30th largest in the country. The city has 161,323 residents according to the 2016 census.
The city has an area of over 141 square miles with a total population density of 3,752 residents per square mile.
Sherbrooke has a large population of students that attend one of the city’s eight universities. There are approximately 40,000 students across these institutions, and in addition to jobs, the schools provide more than $1 billion annually to the economy. There are over 10 students per 100 inhabitants, giving Sherbrooke the largest concentration of students in the province.
The median age of Sherbrooke is 40.3. Over 84% of the population is at least 15 years old.
When it comes to ethnic origin, almost 69% of inhabitants are Canadian, while over one-third are French. There are also communities of people that are Irish, English, North American Indian and Scottish, just to name a few.
Almost 90% of the people in Sherbrooke speak French as their first language. Only 4% speak English as their first language, while 5.4% speak another language. Just over one percent speak two languages.
Immigrants make up about 2% of the population, with most coming from Colombia. There are also inhabitants that came from France, Afghanistan, Argentina, Congo and other countries around the globe.
Approximately 87% of the population is Roman Catholic.
Population growth has been recorded in Sherbrooke since 1871, with double-digit increases shown in the censuses through the 1960s. Though population growth has gradually slowed, the most recent growth of 4.9% between 2011 and 2014 shows that the city is continuing to grow as more new residents make Sherbrooke their home.
| City | 2026 Pop. ↓ | Growth |
|---|---|---|
| London | 9,927,020 | 0.88% |
| Manchester | 2,853,370 | 0.73% |
| Birmingham | 2,724,410 | 0.73% |
| Glasgow | 1,730,280 | 0.66% |
| Southampton | 974,131 | 0.76% |
| Liverpool | 935,328 | 0.68% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 839,947 | 0.68% |
| Nottingham | 825,506 | 0.75% |
| Sheffield | 762,277 | 0.73% |
| Bristol | 725,939 | 0.82% |
| Belfast | 656,593 | 0.71% |
| Brighton | 637,322 | 0.77% |
| Leicester | 579,755 | 0.77% |
| Edinburgh | 568,163 | 0.82% |
| Bournemouth | 530,872 | 0.76% |
| Leeds | 516,298 | 1.01% |
| Cardiff | 498,999 | 0.73% |
| Coventry | 458,904 | 0.95% |
| Middlesbrough | 400,118 | 0.65% |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 399,450 | 0.66% |
| Bradford | 368,485 | 1.01% |
| Reading | 358,252 | 0.75% |
| Sunderland | 351,353 | 0.63% |
| Preston | 340,779 | 0.69% |
| Birkenhead | 338,036 | 0.61% |
| Kingston upon Hull | 330,607 | 0.64% |
| Newport | 326,945 | 0.66% |
| Swansea | 322,374 | 0.67% |
| Derby | 264,430 | 1% |
| Portsmouth | 248,748 | 1% |
| Plymouth | 240,297 | 1% |
| Wolverhampton | 221,754 | 1.01% |
| Aberdeen | 212,300 | 1% |
| York | 210,620 | 1.01% |
| Norwich | 199,245 | 1.01% |
| Peterborough | 179,349 | 1.01% |
| Gloucester | 163,212 | 1.01% |
| Oxford | 161,662 | 1% |
| Cambridge | 149,155 | 1% |
| Blackpool | 145,007 | 1% |
| Exeter | 127,709 | 1.01% |
| Chelmsford | 119,468 | 1.01% |
| Lincoln | 107,434 | 1.01% |
| Bath | 106,009 | 1.01% |
| St Albans | 88,448 | 1.01% |
| Chester | 87,881 | 1% |
| Paisley | 77,250 | 1% |
| Carlisle | 74,536 | 1% |
| Canterbury | 64,495 | 1.02% |
| Scarborough | 61,866 | 1% |
| Dunfermline | 54,640 | 1.01% |
| Torquay | 51,320 | 1% |
| Winchester | 48,818 | 1.01% |
| Inverness | 47,060 | 1% |
| Salisbury | 46,332 | 1% |
| Stirling | 37,670 | 1% |
| Dumfries | 33,290 | 1% |
| Chichester | 31,881 | 1.01% |
| Elgin | 24,080 | 0.99% |
| Sudbury | 23,835 | 1.01% |