TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) - The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan in the devastated Philippine coastal city of Tacloban was 4,000, a notice board at City Hall said on Friday, nearly double the nationwide toll provided by the government in Manila.

The City Hall toll was the first public acknowledgement that the number of fatalities had far exceeded an estimate provided this week by President Benigno Aquino, who predicted the loss of life from the entire disaster would be closer to 2,000 or 2,500.

Official confirmed deaths nationwide stood at 2,357 on Thursday from the November 8 typhoon, one of the strongest ever recorded.

(Reporting by Stuart Grudgings. Writing by Jason Szep. Editing by Dean Yates)