“Less people” or “fewer people”: which is correct?

Why people get it wrong

People often confuse less and fewer because both describe smaller quantities, but they are used with different types of nouns. Less is used with uncountable nouns (like sugar or money), while fewer is used with countable nouns (like people or cars). The widespread incorrect usage of less with countable nouns has led to the error becoming common, especially in spoken English.

What kind of mistake it is

It is a grammatical error involving incorrect countable/uncountable noun agreement.

Examples with fewer people

• There were fewer people at the event this year.
• Fewer people are using cash nowadays.
• We need fewer people in the meeting.
• Fewer people voted in this election.