This is a List of Administrative shire counties of England by Population, that is to say Administrative counties with a two-tier County council structure, not including Administrative counties which are Unitary Authorities. In cases where a unitary authority has been detached from a county for administrative purposes, the population of the unitary authority is excluded. For example, Luton is excluded from tbe population figure listed for Bedfordshire. Populations are 2003 mid-year estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
- Usage note: This list is not based on the definition of a county which is generally used by the British public. For that see the List of Ceremonial counties of England by Population.
| Rank | County | Population
|
| 1 | Kent | 1,348,789
|
| 2 | Essex | 1,324,092
|
| 3 | Hampshire | 1,251,030
|
| 4 | Lancashire | 1,146,979
|
| 5 | Surrey | 1,064,575
|
| 6 | Hertfordshire | 1,040,925
|
| 7 | Staffordshire | 810,982
|
| 8 | Norfolk | 810,695
|
| 9 | West Sussex | 758,647
|
| 10 | Nottinghamshire | 755,430
|
| 11 | Derbyshire | 742,993
|
| 12 | Devon | 714,944
|
| 13 | Cheshire | 678,690
|
| 14 | Suffolk | 678,074
|
| 15 | Lincolnshire | 665,270
|
| 16 | Northamptonshire | 642,708
|
| 17 | Leicestershire | 619,247
|
| 18 | Oxfordshire | 615,204
|
| 19 | North Yorkshire | 576,055
|
| 20 | Cambridgeshire | 570,983
|
| 21 | Gloucestershire | 568,452
|
| 22 | Worcestershire | 549,286
|
| 23 | Warwickshire | 519,301
|
| 24 | Cornwall | 511,398
|
| 25 | Somerset | 507,460
|
| 26 | East Sussex | 496,082
|
| 27 | County Durham | 494,159
|
| 28 | Cumbria | 489,829
|
| 29 | Buckinghamshire | 477,960
|
| 30 | Wiltshire | 440,821
|
| 31 | Dorset | 398,215
|
| 32 | Bedfordshire | 388,600
|
| 33 | Northumberland | 309,237
|
| 34 | Shropshire | 286,745
|
See also
