Editing Celle (section)

===Growth in population===
In the [[Middle Ages]] and [[early modern period]] Celle only had a few thousand inhabitants. The population grew only slowly and dropped frequently as a result of many wars, epidemics and periods of famine. Not until the beginnings of industrialisation in the 19th century did population growth accelerate. It reached a total of 8,800 in 1818 but by 1900 this had more than doubled to 20,000. The incorporation of the surrounding villages on 1 April 1939 saw a further (artificial) rise in numbers to 38,000.

Shortly after the [[Second World War]] the many refugees and displaced persons from Eastern Europe led to a steep rise in the number of inhabitants within just a few months from around 17,000 to 55,000 by December 1945. The addition of new municipalities on 1 January 1973 saw an additional 18,691 people being included within the borough of Celle and bringing the total population to 75,178 − its historical high point.
On 30 June 2005 the official number of inhabitants within Celle borough, according to an update by the Lower Saxony State Department of Statistics, was 71,402 (only main residences, and after adjustments with the other state departments).

The following overview shows the population numbers based on the 'catchment area' at the time. The 1818 figure is an estimate, the rest are based on census results(¹) or official updates by the Department of Statistics. From 1871 the returns show the population actually present, from 1925 the resident population and since 1987 the population residing at their main residence. Before 1871 the numbers are based on various, different census-gathering processes.
 
{|
|-
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
|- class="hintergrundfarbe5"
! style="background: #E0E0E0;" | Year
! style="background: #E0E0E0;" | Population
|-
| 1818 || style="text-align:right;"| 8,800
|-
| 3 December 1855 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 13,117
|-
| 3 December 1861 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 14,100
|-
| 3 December 1864 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 14,900
|-
| 3 December 1867 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 16,200
|-
| 1 December 1871 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 16,147
|-
| 1 December 1875 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 18,200
|-
| 1 December 1880 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 18,800
|-
| 1 December 1885 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 18,800
|-
| 1 December 1890 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 18,901
|-
| 2 December 1895 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 19,438
|}
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
|- class="hintergrundfarbe5"
! style="background: #E0E0E0;" | Year
! style="background: #E0E0E0;" | Population
|-
| 1 December 1900 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 19,883
|-
| 1 December 1905 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 21,390
|-
| 1 December 1910 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 23,263
|-
| 1 December 1916 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 20,521
|-
| 5 December 1917 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 19,997
|-
| 8 October 1919 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 23,589
|-
| 16 June 1925 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 25,456
|-
| 16 June 1933 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 27,734
|-
| 17 May 1939 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 37,799
|-
| 31 December 1945 || style="text-align:right;"| 55,059
|-
| 29 October 1946 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 52,281
|}
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
|- class="hintergrundfarbe5"
! style="background: #E0E0E0;" | Year
! style="background: #E0E0E0;" | Population
|-
| 13 September 1950 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 59,667
|-
| 25 September 1956 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 57,239
|-
| 6 June 1961 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 58,506
|-
| 31 December 1965 || style="text-align:right;"| 58,766
|-
| 27 May 1970 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 57,155
|-
| 31 December 1975 || style="text-align:right;"| 74,347
|-
| 31 December 1980 || style="text-align:right;"| 72,820
|-
| 31 December 1985 || style="text-align:right;"| 70,482
|-
| 25 May 1987 ¹ || style="text-align:right;"| 71,222
|-
| 31 December 1990 || style="text-align:right;"| 72,260
|-
| 31 December 1995 || style="text-align:right;"| 73,936
|}
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
|- class="hintergrundfarbe5"
! style="background: #E0E0E0;" | Year
! style="background: #E0E0E0;" | Population
|-
| 31 December 2000 || style="text-align:right;"| 72,127
|-
| 30 June 2005 || style="text-align:right;"| 71,402
|-
| 1 January 2006 || style="text-align:right;"| 71,371
|-
| 1 January 2008 || style="text-align:right;"| 70,850
|-
| 31 December 2011 || style="text-align:right" | 69,972
|-
| 31 December 2014 || style="text-align:right" |68,721
|-
| 31 December 2017 || style="text-align:right" |69,706
|}
|}
¹ Census results