Attendance numbers at US President Donald Trump's inauguration are estimated to have been around 250,000, compared with Barack Obama's reported 2009 numbers of around 1.8 million.

Metro rides on the morning of inauguration day (20 January) were not only far lower than during either one of Obama's ceremonies, but were lower than they would be on a regular day on the transport system, The Washington Post reported.

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By 11am on the morning Trump was sworn in, Metro sad counted 193,000 rides, while there were 513,000 rides taken on the Metro on the day of the 2009 inauguration, and 317,000 for Obama's ceremony in 2013.

Trump's attendance numbers were far closer to George W. Bush's numbers of a estimated 300,000 and 400,000 during his two ceremonies, however it is believed the president's team were expecting far higher numbers.

A spokesman for the District of Columbia's Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency told Newsweek it had been expecting between 800-900,000 people, and is not expected to comment further on numbers.

Photographs showing what appears to be a dramatic difference in numbers between Obama and Trump's initial inaugurations have been widely shared on social media, with many commenting on the amount of empty space in the pictures of Trump's audience.

Crowds of almost 250,000 are expected in Washington D.C. tomorrow to participate in the women's march, with authorities reportedly expecting at least 200,000 marchers in the capital, and hundreds of thousands more in other events around the country and across the globe.