Number of children under 15, by world region in United Kingdom

United Kingdom: Number of children under 15, by world region was 11.96 million people in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
11.96 million people
Change on year
down 0.5%
World rank
35th
of 236 countries
All-time high
13.46 million people
in 1972
All-time low
10.76 million people
in 1987
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Number of children under 15, by world region in United Kingdom, 1950–2023

05.0M10.0M15.0M195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

United Kingdom recorded 11.96 million people for number of children under 15, by world region in 2023.

That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and up 4.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of children under 15, by world region in United Kingdom peaked at 13.46 million people in 1972 and was at its lowest, 10.76 million people, in 1987.

That places United Kingdom 35th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 74 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 11.72 million people 11.26 million people 12.18 million people 10
1960s 12.71 million people 12.27 million people 13.30 million people 10
1970s 12.98 million people 12.04 million people 13.46 million people 10
1980s 11.11 million people 10.76 million people 11.81 million people 10
1990s 11.25 million people 10.98 million people 11.34 million people 10
2000s 11.05 million people 11.00 million people 11.18 million people 10
2010s 11.65 million people 11.19 million people 12.09 million people 10
2020s 12.04 million people 11.96 million people 12.10 million people 4

Countries ranked near United Kingdom

  1. 32 Madagascar 12.34 million people compare
  2. 33 Niger 12.29 million people compare
  3. 34 Ghana 12.22 million people compare
  4. 36 Cameroon 11.85 million people compare
  5. 37 Germany 11.77 million people compare
  6. 38 France 11.15 million people compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More population data for United Kingdom

All data for United Kingdom →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of children under 15, by world region in United Kingdom?
Number of children under 15, by world region in United Kingdom was 11.96 million people in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of children under 15, by world region recorded in United Kingdom?
The highest recorded value was 13.46 million people in 1972.
What is the lowest number of children under 15, by world region recorded in United Kingdom?
The lowest recorded value was 10.76 million people in 1987.
How does United Kingdom rank for number of children under 15, by world region?
United Kingdom ranks 35th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is number of children under 15, by world region rising or falling in United Kingdom?
Over the last ten years it is up 4.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of children under 15, by world region. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Number of children under 15, by world region
Unit
people
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

The total population, measured on 1 July of the year shown. This only includes people aged 0-14.