This is a List of Administrative shire counties of England by Population, that is to say Administrative counties with a two-tier County council structure, not including Administrative counties which are Unitary Authorities. Populations are 2002 mid-year estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

See also: List of Ceremonial counties of England by Population - List of Administrative shire counties of England by Area

Rank	County	Population
1	Kent	1,338,331
2	Essex	1,318,408
3	Hampshire	1,245,108
4	Lancashire	1,140,539
5	Surrey	1,059,900
6	Hertfordshire	1,036,144
7	Staffordshire	808,952
8	Norfolk	802,766
9	West Sussex	755,855
10	Nottinghamshire	753,155
11	Derbyshire	739,253
12	Devon	710,966
13	Cheshire	675,803
14	Suffolk	671,931
15	Lincolnshire	657,843
16	Northamptonshire	638,238
17	Leicestershire	615,491
18	Oxfordshire	607,457
19	North Yorkshire	572,970
20	Gloucestershire	566,977
21	Cambridgeshire	558,323
22	Worcestershire	545,897
23	Warwickshire	512,680
24	Cornwall	506,250
25	Somerset	503,424
26	East Sussex	494,258
27	County Durham	492,313
28	Cumbria	488,513
29	Buckinghamshire	478,110
30	Wiltshire	436,349
31	Dorset	394,581
32	Bedfordshire	384,652
33	Northumberland	308,386
34	Shropshire	285,204