The invention provides a load prediction method based on the load growth period of a residential cell. The method comprises the steps of collecting the basic data of a residential cell; predicting the saturated load value of the residential cell; establishing a long-period influence factor system for the load of the resident cell; determining the relation between the influencing factors of the load growth period of the residential cell and the shape parameters of the load growth curve of the residential cell; predicting the values of the shape parameters to determine the load growth curve of the residential cell; and predicting the annual load value of the residential cell according to the load growth curve of the residential cell and the saturated load value of the residential cell. Based on the method of the invention, the annual load of the residential cell in the future can be finely predicted, so that the load prediction accuracy of the residential cell is greatly improved. Therefore, the method provides a sufficient reference basis for the power grid scheme planning and the construction scheduling.