History of the population of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador has a lengthy history and was one of the first areas inhabited by Europeans in the Western world.
There is little information on the historical indigenous population of the province.
Population records dating back to 1825 indicated that there was a population of 55,719 people. That number increased year after year until the 1990s. By 1991 the province reached its highest population ever recorded of 568,475 people.
Today, Newfoundland and Labrador ranks ninth in population in Canada, ahead of only Prince Edward Island, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
Statistics Canada states that as of October 1, 2021, Newfoundland and Labrador had a population of 521,758.
More than half of the population lives on the Avalon Peninsula. St. John's, Conception Bay South, Paradise, and Mount Pearl are the major population centres on the Avalon.
Other large areas include Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor, and Gander on the island portion of the province and Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Labrador City in Labrador.
In the 90's the population reached its peak and then began to fall until 2006. By the 2011 census, the population had risen by 1.8 percent.