The Dark-bellied Brent Goose is the most numerous of the three sub-species of the Brent Goose. It breeds along the Arctic coasts of the Yamal, Gydan and Taimyr Peninsulas and the islands of the Kara Sea, including Severnaya Zemlya. It winters exclusively on the coasts of Western Europe, the majority concentrated at sites along the Atlantic coast of France, the south and east coasts of England, southwest Netherlands and the Wadden Sea

The first reliable population estimate was 15,000 in the winter of 1955/56. A rapid increase occurred from the early 1970s until the 1990s, and the population has fluctuated between approximately 220,000 and 315,000 individuals since. The latest estimate for Britain is 98,110, which equates to around 33% of the population.