Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The 2021 UK Census was the 23rd official census of the United Kingdom. The UK Census is generally conducted once every 10 years, and the 2021 censuses of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland took place on 21 March 2021. In Scotland, the decision was made to move the census to March 2022 because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The censuses were administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and National Records of Scotland (NRS), respectively. In England and Wales, Census 2021 was the first census with a digital-first design, encouraging participants to respond online rather than on a paper questionnaire.

Topics covered in the 2021 UK Census included:

• demography and migration
• ethnic group, national identity, language and religion
• labour market and travel to work
• housing
• education
• health, disability, and unpaid care
• Welsh and other languages
• UK armed forces veterans
• sexual orientation and gender identity.

The 2021 Census: Safeguarded Individual Microdata Sample at Region Level dataset consists of a random sample of 5% of person records from the 2021 Census. It includes records for 3,021,455 persons. These data cover England and Wales only. The lowest level of geography is country (Wales) and regions within England. The dataset contains 89 variables and a medium level of detail.

Census Microdata

Microdata are small samples of individual records from a single census from which identifying information have been removed. They contain a range of individual and household characteristics and can be used to carry out analysis not possible from standard census outputs, such as:

• creating tables using bespoke variable combinations
• investigating specific combinations of variables or categories in a high level of detail
• conducting non-tabular statistical analyses on record-level data.

The microdata samples are designed to protect the confidentiality of individuals and households. This is done by applying access controls and removing information that might directly identify a person, such as names, addresses and date of birth. Record swapping is applied to the census data used to create the microdata samples. This is a statistical disclosure control (SDC) method, which makes very small changes to the data to prevent the identification of individuals. The microdata samples use further SDC methods, such as collapsing variables and restricting detail. The samples also include records that have been edited to prevent inconsistent data and contain imputed persons, households, and data values. To protect confidentiality, imputation flags are not included in any 2021 Census microdata sample.

The 2021 Census: Safeguarded Individual Microdata Sample at Region Level data cover: communal establishments, demography, education, ethnicity, identity, language, religion, health, disability, unpaid care, housing, internal migration, international migration, labour market, students, travel to work, Welsh language; and UK armed forces veterans.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by ethnic group and by age of arrival in the UK. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Lower tier local authorities

Lower tier local authorities provide a range of local services. There are 309 lower tier local authorities in England made up of 181 non-metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts and 33 London boroughs (including City of London). In Wales there are 22 local authorities made up of 22 unitary authorities.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. However, you can choose to filter areas by:

• country - for example, Wales
• region - for example, London
• local authority - for example, Cornwall
• health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
• statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

Ethnic group

The ethnic group that the person completing the census feels they belong to. This could be based on their culture, family background, identity or physical appearance.

Respondents could choose one out of 19 tick-box response categories, including write-in response options.

Age of arrival in the UK

The date a person last arrived to live in the UK and their age. Arrival dates do not include returning from short trips away from the UK.

Age of arrival only applies to usual residents not born in the UK. It does not include usual residents born in the UK who have emigrated and since returned. These are recorded in the category “born in the UK”.

This file contains the National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL) for the United Kingdom as at February 2023 in Comma Separated Variable (CSV) and ASCII text (TXT) formats. To download the zip file click the Download button. The NSPL relates both current and terminated postcodes to a range of current statutory geographies via ‘best-fit’ allocation from the 2021 Census Output Areas (national parks and Workplace Zones are exempt from ‘best-fit’ and use ‘exact-fit’ allocations) for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland has the 2011 Census Output AreasIt supports the production of area based statistics from postcoded data. The NSPL is produced by ONS Geography, who provide geographic support to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and geographic services used by other organisations. The NSPL is issued quarterly. (File size - 188 MB).

Background

The main population base for published statistical tables from the 2011 Census in Northern Ireland is the usual resident population base as at Census day, 27 March 2011. By way of background, for 2011 Census purposes a usual resident of the United Kingdom (UK) is anyone who, on Census day, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and had intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

Against this background, the 2011 Census Microdata Sample of Anonymised Records (SARs) Teaching File comprises a sample of 19,862 records (approximately 1 per cent) relating to people who were usually resident in Northern Ireland at the time of the 2011 Census. For each individual, information is available for seventeen separate characteristics (for example, sex, age, marital status) to varying degrees of detail. Both the size of the sample and the content of the records in the file have been harmonised, wherever possible, with the equivalent SARs teaching file that the Office for National Statistics simultaneously released for England and Wales.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the teaching file, which comprises unit-record level data as opposed to statistical aggregates, is as an educational tool aimed at:

• encouraging wider use of Census data by facilitating another way of examining Census data, for example through the building of statistical models, over and above that already available through the raft of standard tabular output released to date;
• providing a broad insight into the sort of detail that is generally included in a SARs product, along with data formats and any associated metadata. This will enable users (arguably those less experienced at using SARs products) to ‘play’ with the data and increase their knowledge and skills in readiness for accessing the more detailed SARs products that are planned and will be available in, for example, a safe setting; and
• assisting with the teaching of statistics and geography at GCSE and higher levels.

This file contains the National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL) for the United Kingdom as at August 2022 in Comma Separated Variable (CSV) and ASCII text (TXT) formats. To download the zip file click the Download button. The NSPL relates both current and terminated postcodes to a range of current statutory geographies via ‘best-fit’ allocation from the 2021 Census Output Areas (national parks and Workplace Zones are exempt from ‘best-fit’ and use ‘exact-fit’ allocations) for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland has the 2011 Census Output AreasIt supports the production of area based statistics from postcoded data. The NSPL is produced by ONS Geography, who provide geographic support to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and geographic services used by other organisations. The NSPL is issued quarterly. (File size - 184 MB).

A data set of cross-nationally comparable microdata samples for 15 Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) countries (Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, USA) based on the 1990 national population and housing censuses in countries of Europe and North America to study the social and economic conditions of older persons. These samples have been designed to allow research on a wide range of issues related to aging, as well as on other social phenomena. A common set of nomenclatures and classifications, derived on the basis of a study of census data comparability in Europe and North America, was adopted as a standard for recoding. This series was formerly called Dynamics of Population Aging in ECE Countries. The recommendations regarding the design and size of the samples drawn from the 1990 round of censuses envisaged: (1) drawing individual-based samples of about one million persons; (2) progressive oversampling with age in order to ensure sufficient representation of various categories of older people; and (3) retaining information on all persons co-residing in the sampled individual''''s dwelling unit. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania provided the entire population over age 50, while Finland sampled it with progressive over-sampling. Canada, Italy, Russia, Turkey, UK, and the US provided samples that had not been drawn specially for this project, and cover the entire population without over-sampling. Given its wide user base, the US 1990 PUMS was not recoded. Instead, PAU offers mapping modules, which recode the PUMS variables into the project''''s classifications, nomenclatures, and coding schemes. Because of the high sampling density, these data cover various small groups of older people; contain as much geographic detail as possible under each country''''s confidentiality requirements; include more extensive information on housing conditions than many other data sources; and provide information for a number of countries whose data were not accessible until recently. Data Availability: Eight of the fifteen participating countries have signed the standard data release agreement making their data available through NACDA/ICPSR (see links below). Hungary and Switzerland require a clearance to be obtained from their national statistical offices for the use of microdata, however the documents signed between the PAU and these countries include clauses stipulating that, in general, all scholars interested in social research will be granted access. Russia requested that certain provisions for archiving the microdata samples be removed from its data release arrangement. The PAU has an agreement with several British scholars to facilitate access to the 1991 UK data through collaborative arrangements. Statistics Canada and the Italian Institute of statistics (ISTAT) provide access to data from Canada and Italy, respectively. * Dates of Study: 1989-1992 * Study Features: International, Minority Oversamples * Sample Size: Approx. 1 million/country Links: * Bulgaria (1992), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/02200 * Czech Republic (1991), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/06857 * Estonia (1989), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/06780 * Finland (1990), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/06797 * Romania (1992), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/06900 * Latvia (1989), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/02572 * Lithuania (1989), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/03952 * Turkey (1990), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/03292 * U.S. (1990), http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/06219

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

These data were originally collected by the Censuses of Population for England and Wales, and for Scotland. They were computerised by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and its collaborators. They form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales.

The census gathered data on levels of educational attainment only from 1951. In 1951 and 1961, attainment was measured simply by the age at which a person's education was completed, rather than by the level of qualifications achieved. These data cover, broadly, the adult population, including many people who had completed their education decades before the relevant census, so the data are indicative of the general level of education of the workforce at the census date, but are a problematic guide to the performance of the education system at that date. The census reports also include cross-tabulations of age of education completion with current age, but not with the level of geographical detail of the transcribed tables.

The 1951 data for England and Wales were computerised by Danny Dorling (now of Oxford University), as part of research funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Latest edition information:

For the 2nd edition (June 2021), data for Scotland for 1951 and data for England & Wales and Scotland for 1961 have been added to the study.

Usual Resident Population Census 2022 - data has been processed to include Stirling Council's multi-member ward and community council information.Households:On Census Day there were 2,509,300 households with at least one usual resident. This is up 136,500 (5.8%) from the 2011 census. The percentage increase in the number of households (5.8%) was higher than the increase in the population (2.7%).The increase in the number of households was mostly due to a 106,700 increase in single person households (up 13.0%). The 2021 census in England and Wales showed a smaller percentage increase in single person households since 2011 (up 5.9%). The 2021 census in Northern Ireland showed a larger increase (up 19.5%).There were 930,000 single person households in Scotland in 2022. Over a third of all households were single person (37.1%). Single person was the most common household size, followed by two person households (856,000).Working with census statistics:Census statistics represent the total population rather than just those who completed the questionnaire. Since the 2001 censuses, statistical modelling has been used across the United Kingdom to produce total population estimates from census responses.As with all estimates, there is a level of uncertainty. Users should consider uncertainty when working with census estimates and interpreting small changes.Glossary:Age - A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022.Council Area - There are 32 council areas in Scotland. Councils provide public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning.Sex - This is the sex recorded by the person completing the census. The options were "Female" and "Male". NRoS provided guidance on how to answer the sex question.Household - A household is defined as: one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room, or dining area. This includes: all sheltered accommodation units in an establishment (irrespective of whether there are other communal facilities), and all people living in caravans on any type of site that is their usual residence; this will include anyone who has no other usual residence elsewhere in the UKA household must contain at least one person whose place of usual residence is at the address. A group of short-term residents living together is not classified as a household, and neither is a group of people at an address where only visitors are staying.Household Type & Household Composition - These describe households according to the type of family present or the relationship between the household members. More information on the 'Household type' and 'Household composition' variables is available on our metadata pages.Marital and civil partnership status - The legal relationship a person has with another person on census day (20 March 2022) regardless of current living arrangements. Cohabiting couple - partners who have indicated that they live together but are not married or in a civil partnership. Lone-parent family - a family with a single male or female parent living with either dependent or non-dependent children.Dependent child - Dependent children are those living with their parent(s) and aged under 16, or aged 16 to 18 in full-time education. Children aged 16 to 18 who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household are not included.Non-dependent child - Non-dependent children are those living with their parent(s) and aged 19 or over, or aged 16 to 18 and not in full-time education. Children who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household are non-dependent. Non-dependent children are sometimes called adult children.Age of Arrival in UK - Age of arrival in the UK is calculated using the date that a person last arrived to live in the UK and their date of birth. Short visits away from the UK are not counted in determining the date that a person last arrived. Age of arrival is only recorded for people who were not born in the UK. Length of residence in the UK - Length of residence in the UK is calculated using the date that a person last arrived to live in the UK and census day. Short visits away from the UK are not counted in determining the date that a person last arrived.Length of residence in the UK is only recorded for people who were not born in the UK. UK censuses The Office for National Statistics is responsible for the census in England and Wales. Data and supporting information is available on the ONS website.The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency is responsible for the census in Northern Ireland. Data and supporting information is available on the NISRA website.

Table shows estimates of resident population by 5 year age band from the 2011 Census of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

England Wales local authorities, counties and regions, plus districts of Scotland and Northern Ireland and total UK population are included.

1) For the 2011 Census, a usual resident of the UK is anyone who, on census day 2011, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

2) The age of a person is derived from their date of birth. It is their age in years on their last birthday up to and including census day 2011. Dates of birth that imply an age over 115 are treated as invalid and the person's age is imputed.

3) Council area boundaries as at 1 April 2011.

4) Scotland figures in this table may not add exactly because they have been rounded to the nearest hundred.

5) Scotland has not published data by 5 year bands above 80, so all people aged 80+ are included in the 80-84 age group.

Sources:

Table qs103ew (England and Wales)

Table A1 (Scotland)

Table QS104NI (Northern Ireland)

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for Year of arrival in UK (in 13 categories) by sex by age (in 20 categories) in Scotland.

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Sex

This is the sex recorded by the person completing the census. The options were "Female" and "Male". Guidance on answering the question can be found here

Year of arrival in the UK

The year of arrival in the UK is derived from the date that a person last arrived to live in the UK. Short visits away from the UK are not counted in determining the date that a person last arrived. This is based on the responses to the question "If you were not born in the United Kingdom, when did you most recently arrive to live here?"

The reason for asking for information on the date of arrival in the UK is to identify patterns in recent international migration, the characteristics of those who have migrated, and to identify areas with transient populations. It enables analysis on the impact of length of residence on social and economic characteristics and is used in a range of equality-related policy development and research.

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

This method returns Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents by their age of arrival in the UK.

Age of arrival in the UK is derived from the date a person last arrived to live in the UK and their age. Arrival dates do not include returning from short trips away from the UK. Age of arrival only applies to usual residents not born in the UK. It does not include usual residents born in the UK who have emigrated and since returned. These are recorded in the category "born in the UK".

Age of arrival in the UK is split into 19 categories including total.

The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

This dataset consists of data collected during the October 2021 census. A few trees were also measured in January 2022 as they could not be accessed in 2021. The data collection includes treeID, position, DBH_cm (girth in cm), observations, POM_cm (Point of measurement) status, census, date, family, genus and species. Botanical identification was done by Julien Engel (IRD). Trees were positioned using TLS scan by Olivier Martin. This tree census was funded by CNES (France).

The dataset shows sex by single year of age for each of the 21 multi-member wards in Glasgow based on the 2011 Census outcomes. Age is dreived from the date of birth question and it is the person's age as at when the cenus was conducted on the 27th of March 2011. For more information on the source metadata please click here Data supplied by Scotland Census 2011 which is run by the National Records of Scotland (c) Crown copyright 2014. Licence: None

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by their length of residence in the UK. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

This update provides unrounded migration estimates. The accompanying data are provided at Country level down to Output Areas.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. Data are also available in these geographic types:

• country - for example, Wales
• region - for example, London
• local authority - for example, Cornwall
• health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
• statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

Length of residence in the UK

The length of residence in the UK is derived from the date that a person most recently arrived to live in the UK. It does not include returning from a holiday or short stay outside the UK.

Length of residence is only applicable to usual residents who were not born in the UK. It does not include usual residents born in the UK who have emigrated and since returned -

these are recorded in the category “born in the UK”.

Small area estimates of self assessed health and limiting long-term illness developed using multilevel small area estimation methodologies. Estimates are for varying combinations of England, Wales and Scotland and are at the middle layer super output area (or equivalent). Comparisons with 2011 census data are facilitated. Estimates were developed using the Health Surveys for England, Wales and Scotland, and using the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Publications and working papers to date are available from the Project website (see 'additional resources')

With the 2011 Census probably being the last, this project focuses on testing an alternative approach to generating small area data. The aim is to create estimates for 'health' indicators presently provided in the census: self-assessed health, limiting long term illness, carer responsibilities, and absence of work due to disability.

The project will develop prior work using small area synthetic estimation based on multilevel modelling. This approach derives statistical models from large-scale surveys and uses the parameters of the models to develop estimates of the target variables. The project aims to cover the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom and will work with survey data from each country for the data collection period for the 2011 census. The resultant multilevel synthetic estimates for the health indicators will be compared with the actual data for the indicators collected in the 2011 census. Research will focus on model development and effectiveness as well as the ability of the method to accommodate inter-censal change and spatial dependency.