Historical population of Poznań

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 kilometeres.

In the Polish People's Republic
1946 268,000 inhabitants. Following the Jewish Holocaust and the post-war migration and expulsions of Germans from Polish territory, the ethnic composition of the city's population would be almost exclusively Polish.
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

References