The "Liverpool Urban Area" is a term used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to denote the urban area around Liverpool in England, to the east of the River Mersey. The contiguous built-up area extends beyond the area administered by Liverpool City Council into adjoining local authority areas, particularly parts of Sefton and Knowsley. As defined by ONS, the area extends as far east as Haydock and St. Helens[1].
The Liverpool Urban Area is not the same area as Merseyside (or Greater Merseyside) which includes areas of Wirral on the west bank of the Mersey and Southport[1].
The Liverpool Urban Area defined by ONS covers Liverpool and its contiguous built-up areas, with a population of 816,216 in the 2001 census,[2] which is down 2.6% from the 1991 figure of 837,998.[3] The urban area facing Liverpool on the Wirral Peninsula is a separate division known as the Birkenhead Urban Area.[4]
The ONS definition is based purely on physical criteria with a focus on the presence or absence of significant gaps between built-up areas. It therefore extends as far as St Helens and Haydock, but excludes some areas much closer to Liverpool which are separated from it by open spaces. According to the ONS the subcomponents of the Liverpool Urban Area are:
| Urban subvision | Population (2001)[2] | Population (1991)[1] |
|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 469,017 | 481,786 |
| Bootle | 59,123 | 65,454 |
| Crosby | 51,789 | 52,869 |
| Haydock | 16,955 | 16,705 |
| Huyton-with-Roby | 54,766 | 56,500 |
| Litherland | 22,242 | 20,905 |
| Prescot | 39,695 | 37,486 |
| St Helens | 102,629 | 106,293 |
| Total | 816,216 | 837,998 |
Greater Liverpool is an informal term used by the Rent Service as one of its Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMA).[5] This area includes such areas outside the council boundaries as Crosby, Maghull, Prescot and St Helens.