Historical population of Poznań

Population bar chart from 1798 to 1931

The following table contains information on the historical population of the city of Poznań in western Poland.

For details of the historical developments, see History of Poznań.

In early Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
c. 1250	2,000–3,000 inhabitants
c. 1350	about 4,000 inhabitants
c. 1600	about 20,000 inhabitants in the whole conurbation (8,000 within the city walls, 8,000–9,000 in the left-bank suburbs, 3,000–3,500 on the right bank)
c. 1650	about 14,000 inhabitants (after the Second Northern War of 1655-57: settlement of 200-300 Scots)
c. 1700	about 12,000 inhabitants (continuing decline in population due to wars, floods and plague)
1732	4,000 inhabitants (according to notes of town scribe Jan Rzepecki )
1733	6,000 inhabitants
Under Prussian rule
1794	12,538 inhabitants (census data); the population at this time was about 20% Jewish and 10% German
1796	16,124 inhabitants (census data)
1800	18,779 inhabitants (census data; 21,473 including the garrison)
1816	18,000 inhabitants (67% Poles, 22% Jews and 11% Germans); 24,000 including the garrison
1824	22,000 inhabitants
1831	31,000 inhabitants
1848	42,000 inhabitants (43% Poles, 40% Germans, 17% Jews); 45,000 including the garrison
1850	43,000 inhabitants
1860	43,000 inhabitants; 49,000 including the garrison
1861	51,000 inhabitants
1867	47,000 civil inhabitants (47% Poles, 38% Germans, 15% Jews)
1870	54,400 inhabitants
1871	65,000 inhabitants (including the garrison; in 1885 there were 4,800 soldiers in the garrison)
1890	69,627 inhabitants (census data) (51% Poles)
1895	73,200 inhabitants
1900	110,000 inhabitants (plus 7,000 soldiers in the garrison); from 1896 to 1907 new areas came within the city boundaries, increasing its size from 7.8 to 33.9 square kilometres
1905	136,800 inhabitants
1910	156,696 civil inhabitants (census data; 57% Poles), plus 6,200 soldiers in the garrison (rising to 10,000 by 1913)
1917	156,357 inhabitants (government data)
1918	156,091 inhabitants (government data)
In the Second Polish Republic *data calculated from records of deaths, births and migration numbers
1919	158,185 inhabitants*
1920	162,902 inhabitants*
1921	169,422 inhabitants (census data at 30 September; includes 92,089 women)
1922	178,229 inhabitants*
1923	185,521 inhabitants*
1924	193,228 inhabitants*
1925	220,023 inhabitants*
1926	226,828 inhabitants*
1927	237,048 inhabitants*
1928	248,426 inhabitants*
1929	261,597 inhabitants*
1930	266,742 inhabitants*
1931	246,698 inhabitants (census data at December 9); 236,200 Poles, 6,400 Germans, 1,100 Jews, 200 Ukrainians, 100 Russians, 100 others; 131,929 women
1932	248,763 inhabitants*
1933	252,667 inhabitants* (expansions of the city boundaries in 1925 and 1933 more than doubled its area to 76.9 square kilometres)
1934	255,557 inhabitants*
1935	260,444 inhabitants*
1936	265,271 inhabitants*
1937	268,794 inhabitants*
1938	272,653 inhabitants*
June 1, 1939	274,155 inhabitants (the true figure was probably up to 10,000 higher)
Under Nazi occupation *German data used in the trial of Arthur Greiser
September 1, 1940	287,862 inhabitants (81% Poles; 18% Germans; 2% others)
January 1, 1941	296,790 inhabitants (80% Poles; 20% Germans; 1% others)
August 1, 1941	308,051 inhabitants (77% Poles; 23% Germans; 1% others)
February 1, 1942	318,208 inhabitants (75% Poles; 25% Germans; 1% others)
January 1, 1943	326,572 inhabitants (74% Poles; 26% Germans; 1% others)
October 1, 1943	327,026 inhabitants (73% Poles; 26% Germans; 1% others)
April 1, 1944	323,747 inhabitants (71% Poles; 28% Germans; 1% others)
1939–1945	During World War II about 8,600 of the pre-war inhabitants were murdered (inc. about 1,500 Jews); 3,620 were taken to Germany as slave workers (20% of them died); 38,256 inhabitants of Polish nationality were resettled to the General Government, over 60,000 were deprived of their property and expelled from their homes (Verdrägung, Polish rugi). Approximately 90,000 Germans were settled in the city. In total 14,413 of the pre-war inhabitants died during the war (4,025 as a result of the combat, 2,255 executed, 6,382 died in concentration camps and prisons, 735 died as slave workers in Germany, 1,070 died of disease or starvation). Approximately 2,000 persons are unaccounted for. The area of the city was also significantly increased in 1940–1942, to 226 square kilometres.
In the Polish People's Republic
1946	268,000 inhabitants. Following the invasion of Poland and the post-war migration and expulsions of Germans from Polish territory by the Soviets, the ethnic composition of the city's population would become almost exclusively Polish, resembling its distant past.
1950	320,700 inhabitants
1960	408,100 inhabitants
1970	471,900 inhabitants
1975	516,000 inhabitants
1980	552,900 inhabitants
1988	591,300 inhabitants. This is the highest population so far recorded for Poznań (it follows the addition of new areas to the city in 1974 and 1987, bringing its total area to 261.3 square kilometres). Later, migration from the city to surrounding areas would cause the population to fall.
In the Third Polish Republic
1990	590,049 inhabitants
1995	581,772 inhabitants
2000	572,900 inhabitants
March 31, 2002	571,571 inhabitants, according to official records (53% female)
May 2002	578,900 inhabitants, according to census data (54% female)
2009	556,022 inhabitants (statistical office data)

The above figures do not include a significant number of students (approximately 60,000) resident temporarily in Poznań during the academic year.

See also

• History of Poznań
• Historical demographics of Poland

References

• Jerzy Topolski (red) Dzieje Poznania Warszawa-Poznań 1988-, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe ISBN 83-01-08194-5
• Maria Trzeciakowska, Lech Trzeciakowski, W dziewiętnastowiecznym Poznaniu. Życie codzienne miasta 1815-1914, Poznań 1982, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie ISBN 83-210-0316-8
• Current population data from the Polish Central Statistical Office (GUS)