We only present the rate of population growth where we can be sure that changes do not result simply from boundary changes.

In the early 19th century, the most obvious areas of rapid growth were in the industrial districts of Lancashire and South Wales, and the drained fens of northern East Anglia, while seaside resorts on the south coast developed well before the coming of railways.

By the mid-19th century, the north-east of England was growing fast. Its expansion was driven by mining and new heavy industries. In the second half of the 19th century, the old southern shipyards were almost completely replaced by new yards on the Tyne and the Wear. London was starting to lose population, and this trend was clearer by the 1900s. The mining areas of South Wales and the East Midlands also boomed.

These patterns changed completely in the 1930s, rapid growth becoming focused almost entirely around London, which continued into the 1950s and 1960s. By the 1970s, the region of high growth extended into both the south west and all of East Anglia. Central Wales and the Scottish Highlands benefited from in-migration. New growth in inner London also occurred in the 1980s and 1990s while the decline of the old industrial areas continued.