List of counties of England by population in 1981
# List of counties of England by population in 1981

This is a list of counties of England, ordered by population as at the 1981 census.

| Rank | County | Total population |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Greater London | 6,495,163 |
| 2 | West Midlands | 2,605,113 |
| 3 | Greater Manchester | 2,547,045 |
| 4 | West Yorkshire | 1,999,043 |
| 5 | Merseyside | 1,481,857 |
| 6 | Essex | 1,446,621 |
| 7 | Kent | 1,428,921 |
| 8 | Hampshire | 1,423,915 |
| 9 | Lancashire | 1,348,440 |
| 10 | South Yorkshire | 1,282,161 |
| 11 | Tyne and Wear | 1,120,100 |
| 12 | Staffordshire | 999,539 |
| 13 | Surrey | 974,479 |
| 14 | Nottinghamshire | 967,734 |
| 15 | Hertfordshire | 936,123 |
| 16 | Devon | 919,483 |
| 17 | Cheshire | 911,980 |
| 18 | Derbyshire | 895,149 |
| 19 | Avon | 891,560 |
| 20 | Humberside | 835,643 |
| 21 | Leicestershire | 827,407 |
| 22 | Norfolk | 676,688 |
| 23 | Berkshire | 662,689 |
| 24 | North Yorkshire | 643,475 |
| 25 | West Sussex | 641,071 |
| 26 | East Sussex | 633,613 |
| 27 | Hereford and Worcester | 617,671 |
| 28 | Durham | 594,788 |
| 29 | Suffolk | 583,594 |
| 30 | Dorset | 570,321 |
| 31 | Cambridgeshire | 563,773 |
| 32 | Cleveland | 558,820 |
| 33 | Buckinghamshire | 553,225 |
| 34 | Lincolnshire | 538,269 |
| 35 | Northamptonshire | 519,046 |
| 36 | Wiltshire | 504,984 |
| 37 | Oxfordshire | 500,554 |
| 38 | Bedfordshire | 497,639 |
| 39 | Gloucestershire | 487,806 |
| 40 | Cumbria | 467,355 |
| 41 | Warwickshire | 466,045 |
| 42 | Somerset | 413,048 |
| 43 | Cornwall & Isles of Scilly | 412,835 |
| 44 | Salop (Shropshire) | 365,355 |
| 45 | Northumberland | 291,175 |
| 46 | Isle of Wight | 113,008 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | 45,214,323 |
