Inner London is the group of

London boroughs The London boroughs are the current 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs wer ...

that form the interior part of

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

and are surrounded by Outer London. With its origins in the bills of mortality, it became fixed as an area for statistics in 1847 and was used as an area of local government from 1855 to 1965 principally as the County of London or earlier as the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the upper tier of local government for London between 1856 and 1889, primarily responsible for upgrading infrastructure. It also had a parks and open spaces committee which set aside and opened up severa ...

Area (metropolis). It now has two common definitions. The first is the statutory definition delineated in the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

, coming into force on 1 April 1965, comprising twelve Inner London boroughs and almost identical to the County of London that was abolished at the same time. The second is the definition used by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible fo ...

comprising eleven of the statutory Inner London boroughs and two of the statutory Outer London boroughs, as well as the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

.Newham London Borough Council
– Positively Inner London Inner London is smaller than Outer London both in terms of population and area, but the population density is more than double that of Outer London. Inner London is officially the wealthiest area in Europe with the most expensive street in Europe: as of 2013, the GDP per capita was more than €80,000 while the UK GDP per capita was around €27,000.

History

Background

The area that is now Inner London was defined by the Registrar General as a collection of parishes called "London" and appeared in the 1851 Census. At the time the metropolitan area—commonly called the Metropolis—had its origins in the area of the Bills of mortality that had expanded from the tiny

into three surrounding counties over the previous several hundred years. The area become fixed in 1847 with the addition of Lewisham Poor Law Union and the parish of Hampstead. In 1855 the Registrar General area, with the addition of

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East Greater London, London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. Etymology The name ''Penge'' is first attested in charter of ...

, was used to define the district of the

.Davis, J., ''Reforming London: The London Government Problem, 1855–1900'', (1988) The Metropolis was also described as Inner London from the 1881 Census. In 1889 this area became the County of London. The area was adjusted in 1900 when Penge was transferred to Kent and South Hornsey was gained from Middlesex.

London Government Act 1963

The "Inner

" were defined by the

. The Inner London boroughs occupied the same area as the County of London that was abolished as they were created. North Woolwich was an anomaly as it was part of the County of London, but became part of an Outer London borough. The main difference between Inner and Outer London boroughs between 1965 and 1990 was that the councils of the inner boroughs were not local education authorities and there was a single

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was the local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. From 1965 to 1986 it was an ad hoc committee of the Greater London Co ...

for the area, including the

. The inner borough councils became local education authorities on 1 April 1990. The statutory definition is used as part of the grant settlement used to finance local government. The statutory Inner London boroughs are: * Camden *

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

* Hackney * Hammersmith and Fulham *

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

* Kensington and Chelsea *

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

* Southwark * Tower Hamlets *

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

Newham London Borough Council argues that the municipality should be treated as part of Inner London for statutory purposes, as it is for statistical purposes (see below). This would benefit the borough financially. Only the North Woolwich area of Newham fell within the former County of London, however, and the council's advocacy has not borne fruit. The

was not designated as an Inner London borough, but the Corporation of London is usually classed as an inner London local authority.

Statistics

The

and

Eurostat Eurostat ("European Statistical Office"; also DG ESTAT) is a department of the European Commission ( Directorate-General), located in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statist ...

define Inner London differently, explicitly including the

, adding Haringey and

Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...

, but excluding

. The land area is and the population at the 2021 Census was 3,404,300.

Ethnicity

Figures before 1971 have been reconstructed by the Office for National Statistics based on past censuses in order to fit the 2001 limits. Figures from 1981 onward are ONS midyear estimates (revised as of 2010). After centuries of increase, the population of Inner London reached its peak of 4,998,237 in 1911. The area's population from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

began a steady decline as that of Outer London continued to increase. The census of 1951 showed the damage inflicted by the 1940s Blitz as the population of Greater London switched into decline which was reversed in Outer London with house building and territory expansion whereas in Inner London continued. The war damage and early 20th century slums had physical and psychological hence property price effects and focus on New Towns and suburban development reflected a drive among urban planners for greener, less dense settlements. Inner London reached a post-War nadir, a population not seen since the early 19th century in 1981 having 2,550,100 residents, after which an upward trend ensued and Inner London residents numbered 3,231,901 in 2011 — 1,766,336 short of the 1911 peak.

Strategic planning

For the purposes of the London Plan planning document produced by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

, Inner London consists of the City of London, all the statutory Inner London boroughs, and Newham.

Other definitions

The area covered by the

London postal district The London postal district is the area in England of to which mail addressed to the London post town is delivered. The General Post Office under the control of the Postmaster General of the United Kingdom, Postmaster General directed Rowland Hil ...

is sometimes referred to as "Inner London".HMSO, ''The Inner London Letter Post'', (1980) However it is not coterminous with other definitions of Inner London as its area is somewhat larger and covers . The southern part of the London Borough of Lewisham as well as a small part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich fall outside its boundaries whilst 44 of its 119 districts are in Outer London and its irregular shape stretches to the Greater London boundary at Mill Hill and Scratch Wood and beyond it at Sewardstone. From 1990 to 2000 London used two separate telephone dialling codes with one code designated for ''Inner London'', however the area covered by this code was widely different from all of the above definitions and most of Greater London is now covered by a single '' 020'' dialling code.

Economy

There are approximately 200,000 businesses with around 2,000,000 employees in Inner London. 56% of all private sector jobs in Greater London are located in Inner London. There is significant commuting of workers from Outer London and from outside Greater London. Much of the commercial activity is focused on

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

and

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

. 10% of public sector employment is focused on

around the

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

References

{{Coord, 51.508411, N, 0.125364, W, display=title, region:GB_type:adm3rd_scale:300000 1847 establishments in England Geography of the City of London London sub-regions Natural regions of England London Inner