Peterborough named as 5th fastest growing city in UK
Peterborough has been named as the fifth fastest growing city in the UK.
The 2026 Cities Outlook report, showed that the population of the city had grown from 195,766 in 2014 to 223,655 in 2024 – a rise of 27,889, or 14.2 per cent.
The only cities where the population had grown more in percentage terms were Cambridge, Telford, Milton Keynes and Exeter. Exeter and Milton Keynes, which shared the number one spot, had a population rise of 15.5 per cent.
As a whole, the UK’s population grew by 7.2 per cent in the same time.
The report, which examines the economic performance of the UK’s 63 largest towns and cities, also showed the Peterborough jobs market has grown by 23.9 per cent – almost a quarter - from 2014 to 2024 giving it the third highest jobs growth.
Councillor Mohammed Farooq, Cabinet Member for Growth and Regeneration, said: “By many measures Peterborough is performing well as a city. It had the third highest jobs growth from 2014 to 2024 when compared to 62 other cities and the fifth highest population growth over the same period at 14.2 per cent which was twice the national average.
“It also has the 13th highest number of businesses per 10,000 people, the 14th highest ratio of private to public sector jobs, and the 16th highest housing stock growth. Peterborough was even in the top third of cities for productivity at £40/hr, just slightly below the national average of £41.3/hr.
“This shows we are making real progress in building a bigger, better Peterborough for our residents. However, we are also mindful there is still work to be done to raise living standards for Peterborough people.”
The Peterborough Telegraph reported on the study earlier this year – with the report showing it has below average wages, and a relatively high number of residents on Universal Credit.
The annual Cities Outlook Report is written by national think tank Centre for Cities and can be viewed here www.centreforcities.org/cities-outlook/