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I was wondering how big sectors in space are because i'm writing some fluff and i always hear refences to sectors/ sub-sectors so i was just trying to work it out. so on average how big are sectors? how many planets do they hold? how big are sub-sectors? how many planets? how do solar systems fit into all this? thanks for any help with these questions. =)

Its totally variable and depends on the location of the sector in the galaxy. Remember that not all systems within the notional volume of an Imperial Sector will be inhabitable, inhabited, or even Imperial.

So i could have sub-sector with only a few (4-5) solar systems in it? giving me about 30-50 planets (many inhabitable) ?

All human-inhabited space is further broken down into sectors, which are most usually cubes of space roughly 200 light years to a side. Each sector is comprised of a number of sub-sectors ranging from ten to twenty light years in diameter,
centred on densely populated star clusters, important worlds, or meeting points of various trade routes through the warp. The areas between sub-sectors and sectors – unexplored or uninhabited regions, alien empires, areas inaccessible by the warp etc, – are known as wilderness space or wilderness zones and make up a far greater proportion of the galaxy than that controlled by Humanity.

p. 86, Battlefleet Gothic rulebook

Some sectors do abut each other. Gothic sector shares a border with the Tamahl sector for example. However this adjacency could be because it is Segmentum Obscuras. The more heavily populated Segmentum Solar and Segmentum Obsucras may have clusters of sectors in close proximity to each other. In the much larger far flung Ultima Segmentum, the sectors may be more isolated, like oases in the desert, with connecting trade routes but otherwise vast tracts of wilderness space in between.

The Gothic sector had 71 systems listed in the BFG rulebook. The rulebook said these only showed the major systems of economic or strategic importance (such as some uninhabited systems having strategically important jump points). There are some more mentioned in Gordon Rennie's BFG novels that aren't listed, presumably more minor systems. So there isn't a true census as such but at least gives the rough number of major systems in an average sector. Also forge worlds and hive worlds were not that common. Generally only 1 per sub-sector.

Sectors are clusters of worlds in a single location. They can be anywhere from 50 to 1,000 worlds.