Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Census 2011 Microdata Teaching File for Northern Ireland data collection forms part of the statistical outputs from the 2011 UK Census. The Teaching File is an open access dataset constructed from the safeguarded microdata sample of individuals (see SNs 7769 and 7770 for background information). Converted by the UK Data Service Census Support Service, it is an SPSS/Stata version of the spreadsheet Microdata Teaching File for Northern Ireland produced by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), drawn from data collected in the 2011 Census. The file was produced by NISRA with a variables list and a user guide – all of which are considered the essential and definitive companions to the data. The original spreadsheet format Microdata Teaching File is an open government file and is available from the NISRA 2011 Census Microdata Teaching File webpage.

More information about the teaching file and Census 2011, including forms and links to other Census data, are available both on the NISRA site or via the UK Data Service Census Support webpages.


Main Topics:

Topics covered include: age, economic activity, ethnicity, health, industry, marital status, occupation, religion, whether UK born.

The UK censuses took place on 27 March 2011. They were run by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA), National Records of Scotland (NRS), and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for both England and Wales. The UK comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Statistics from the UK censuses help paint a picture of the nation and how we live. They provide a detailed snapshot of the population and its characteristics and underpin funding allocation to provide public services. This is the home for all UK census data.

The 2011 Census Microdata Individual Safeguarded Sample (Local Authority): Northern Ireland data collection forms part of the statistical outputs from the 2011 Northern Ireland Census. A safeguarded microdata sample of individuals has been identified as a key Census user requirement, and was highlighted as part of a report specifying microdata products from the 2011 Census written by an expert user, Dr. Jo Wathan from the University of Manchester.

The purpose of a safeguarded sample of individuals is to be able to disseminate a detailed microdata file without onerous licensing conditions, by reducing the overall amount of detail compared to the secure samples. Whilst supplying sufficient detail on core variables to fulfil the intended aim of the microdata products, the safeguarded sample is a valuable multi-purpose research file that will be used on a wide range of projects. (For Censuses prior to 2011, these data may have been referred to as 'Samples of Anonymised Records', or SARSs.)

This safeguarded sample is of 5% of the total population at Local Authority level (Northern Ireland), and contain a similar level of detail to the equivalent End User Licence Census 2001 Microdata samples. A similar Northern Ireland dataset at Regional level is held under SN 7769. These samples have a low risk of disclosure; but not nil. Registered UK Data Service Census users can download the data to their laptops after agreeing terms and conditions that include constraints on data management under remote storage conditions.

Further information can be found on the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) Census microdata webpage.

Corresponding Regional and Local Authority level data for England and Wales are held under SNs 7605 and 7682, and for Scotland under SNs 7834 and 7835.

Census 2011 statistics providing estimates of the number and characteristics of the non-UK born short-term resident population of Northern Ireland. Source agency: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: 2011 Census Northern Ireland

The UK censuses took place on 27 March 2011. They were run by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA), National Records of Scotland (NRS), and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for both England and Wales. The UK comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Statistics from the UK censuses help paint a picture of the nation and how we live. They provide a detailed snapshot of the population and its characteristics and underpin funding allocation to provide public services. This is the home for all UK census data.

The aggregate data produced as outputs from censuses in the United Kingdom provide information on a wide range of demographic and socio-economic characteristics. They are predominantly a collection of aggregated, or summary counts of the numbers of people, families or households resident in specific geographical areas possessing particular characteristics drawn from the themes of population, people and places, families, ethnicity and religion, health, work, and housing.

Aggregate data for Census 2011 cover the full range of geographies employed within the census, from the smallest (output areas with an average of 150 persons in England and Wales) to the nation as a whole.

• Access data through InFuse
• Census aggregate data guide

Citation: Office for National Statistics. (2019). 2011 Census: Aggregate Data. [data collection]. UK Data Service. SN: 7427, http://doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2011-2

Workplace Zones (WZs) are a new output geography, initially produced using workplace data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales rather than the UK as a whole. They are designed to supplement the Output Area (OA) and Super Output Area (LSOA and MSOA) geographies that were introduced with the 2001 Census, and have been constructed from OAs, or sub-divisions of these called postcode-level building-blocks (PCBBs). While OAs are designed to contain consistent numbers of persons based on where they live, WZs are designed to contain consistent numbers of workers, based on where people work. Following publication of WZs for England and Wales, coverage has subsequently been extended to include Scotland and Northern Ireland using 2011 Census data to create a UK set of WZs produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of National Records of Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). WZs are designed to be a more suitable output geography for publishing workplace statistics.

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 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in Northern Ireland by ethnic group.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

This table reports the categories for which there are 10 or more usual residents. Where there are fewer than 10 usual residents for any category, these have been reported in a residual group which may or may not contain 10 or more usual residents in total.

All ethnic groups are classified within one of the five groups: White, Asian, Black, Mixed, and Other. 'Irish Traveller' is included in 'Other'; this is changed from Census 2011 when 'Irish Traveller' was included in 'White'.

Quality assurance report can be found here

This dataset contains gridded human population with a spatial resolution of 1 km x 1 km for the UK based on Census 2011 and Land Cover Map 2015 input data. Data on population distribution for the United Kingdom is available from statistical offices in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland and provided to the public e.g. via the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Population data is typically provided in tabular form or, based on a range of different geographical units, in file types for geographical information systems (GIS), for instance as ESRI Shapefiles. The geographical units reflect administrative boundaries at different levels of detail, from Devolved Administration to Output Areas (OA), wards or intermediate geographies. While the presentation of data on the level of these geographical units is useful for statistical purposes, accounting for spatial variability for instance of environmental determinants of public health requires a more spatially homogeneous population distribution. For this purpose, the dataset presented here combines 2011 UK Census population data on Output Area level with Land Cover Map 2015 land-use classes 'urban' and 'suburban' to create a consistent and comprehensive gridded population data product at 1 km x 1 km spatial resolution. The mapping product is based on British National Grid (OSGB36 datum). Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/0995e94d-6d42-40c1-8ed4-5090d82471e1

Workplace Zone (WZ) centroids are point features that represent the 'master postcodes' for WZs. The centroid, or 'master postcode' was selected using an algorithm which calculates the postcode centroid within a WZ which has grid references closest to the worker-weighted centre of the DZ. These centroids / 'master postcodes' can be used to link WZs to other (higher level) geographies and produce a 'best-fit' match. They have been created by the National Records of Scotland (NRS), based on the WZ boundaries which were produced on behalf of NRS by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). WZs were a new output geography for Census 2011, initially produced using workplace data from the 2011 Census for England and Wales rather than the UK as a whole. They are designed to supplement the Output Area (OA) and Super Output Area (LSOA and MSOA) / Data Zone (DZ) geographies that were introduced with the 2001 Census, and have been constructed from OAs, or sub-divisions of these called postcode-level building-blocks. While OAs are designed to contain consistent numbers of persons based on where they live, WZs are designed to contain consistent numbers of workers, based on where people work. Following publication of WZs for England and Wales, coverage was subsequently extended to include Scotland and Northern Ireland using 2011 Census data to create a UK set of WZs produced by the ONS on behalf of NRS and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). WZs are designed to be a more suitable output geography for publishing workplace statistics.

The data are based on the 2011 Census Microdata Teaching File, with the first 18 variables in the OriginalTeachingFileData worksheet exactly the same as those found in the original file. This can be downloaded from: http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census/2011_results_specialist_products.html. It is also available on the Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service (NINIS) website.The final 8 variables found in the SYLLS_Synthetic_NILS_Spine worksheet, are synthetic data. Those variables corresponding to a 2001 state are based on the transitional probabilities taken from the NILS, accurate to 10 year age groups.

Dataset population: Member of the Armed Forces/Member of the Foreign Armed Forces/Schoolchild or full-time student aged 4 and over at their non-term-time address/Full-time students and schoolchildren aged 4 and over living away from home during term-time (only including schoolchildren and students where information was provided at their home address)

Age

Age is derived from the date of birth question and is a person's age at their last birthday, at 27 March 2011. Dates of birth that imply an age over 115 are treated as invalid and the person's age is imputed. Infants less than one year old are classified as 0 years of age.

Sex

The classification of a person as either male or female.

Usual resident population

The main population base for statistics from the 2011 Census is the usual resident population as at census day, 27 March 2011. Although the population base for enumeration included non-UK-born short-term residents, this population is analysed separately and is not included in the main outputs from the 2011 Census.

All statistics are produced using only usual residents of the UK unless otherwise specified.

For 2011 Census purposes, a usual resident of the 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 intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

For information about the main population base for statistics, how other population sub-groups are counted, and all variable definitions, see information about ONS variables and classifications.

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.

Every ten years since 1801 the nation has set aside one day for the census - a count of all people and households. It is the most complete source of information about the population that we have. The latest census was held on Sunday 27 March 2011.

Every effort is made to include everyone, and that is why the census is so important. It is the only survey which provides a detailed picture of the entire population, and is unique because it covers everyone at the same time and asks the same core questions everywhere. This makes it easy to compare different parts of the country.

The information the census provides allows central and local government, health authorities and many other organisations to target their resources more effectively and to plan housing, education, health and transport services for years to come.

In England and Wales, the census is planned and carried out by the Office for National Statistics. Elsewhere in the UK, responsibility lies with the National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

All 2011 Census data for ‘Welsh’ records are defined as those: - Currently resident in Wales - With a second address in Wales - With a previous Years Address in Wales - With a term-time address in Wales - Who work in Wales (but live in England) - In Armed Forces Establishments in Wales - Who are visitors in Wales - Who are Welsh language speakers (including those who live and work outside of Wales).

The ONS have three processes for checking and resolving duplicate responses so that the main census data should simply be one record for each person:

1. The ONS resolve duplicates coming in for the same postcode using a process called Resolve Multiple Responses (RMR). For instance, if two people both fill in a form for their whole household, or someone from a household also submits an individual response unknown to the main submission. They have rules for checking they are duplicates, and rules for which to keep.

2. The ONS also do an over coverage check on a sample basis for duplicates across the rest of the country, and then factor the findings into their coverage estimation calculations. This sampling focuses on the types of population which are more likely to be duplicated (people who have indicated they have a second residence on the census, students aged 18-25, armed forces personnel, children, adults enumerated at a communal establishment, etc.) but also samples from the remaining population.

3. The ONS ask parents to fill in basic demographic information for any children who are away studying, and when they get to the question on their term-time address, if they answer that the term-time address is elsewhere, we then use that to filter those out-of-term students out of the main database. Then when that student does respond actually at their term-time address, they only include them there.

Please note: Variables RELAT06, RELAT11, RELAT16, RELAT21, RELAT26 are not available in the data.

The Research Accreditation Panel provides oversight of the framework that is used to accredit research projects, researchers and processing environments under the Digital Economy Act 2017 (DEA). Researchers are advised to liaise with SAIL support teams to understand the requirements and timelines involved with submitting a research project to the Research Accreditation Panel. https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/digitaleconomyact-research-statistics/research-accreditation-panel/

Dataset population: Persons

Passports held (total)

Results for 'Passports held' classify a person according to the passport or passports they held at the time of the 2011 Census. People were asked to indicate whether they held no passport, a United Kingdom passport, an Irish passport or a passport from another country, and write in the name of the other country if applicable. If more than one of the options were applicable, people were asked to indicate all that applied.

In results that classify people by passports held, those who hold a United Kingdom or Irish passport, and any other type of passport, will appear in each applicable category.

The categories 'EU countries' and 'non-EU countries' relate to the European Union (EU) as at March 2011.

The NILS is an extensive system that integrates various administrative datasets, including census data, by linking them through medical-card registrations in Northern Ireland. The dataset links together censuses from 1981, 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 with administrative data. As of 2024, it is proportionally the largest longitudinal study in the United Kingdom, covering 28% of the Northern Ireland population and accounting for approximately 50% of Northern Ireland households. Follow-up occurs through the linkage of census data, and vital events such as births and deaths are updated regularly from routine registration data.

The UK censuses took place on 27 March 2011. They were run by the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA), National Records of Scotland (NRS), and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for both England and Wales. The UK comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Statistics from the UK censuses help paint a picture of the nation and how we live. They provide a detailed snapshot of the population and its characteristics and underpin funding allocation to provide public services. This is the home for all UK census data.

Census flow data involve flows of individuals in the UK between origins and destinations. These flows are either the residential migrations of individuals from one place of usual residence to another, or of commuters making journeys from home to workplace or place of study.

These data are derived from the questions on the census form relating to usual place of residence one year ago, and the place of work for the respondent's main job. Flow data are currently available at a range of different spatial scales ranging from Output Areas to Local Authority Districts.

Output Area is the lowest geographical level at which census estimates are provided. Output Areas were introduced in Scotland at the 1981 Census and in all the countries of the UK at the 2001 Census.

The Output Areas and Small Areas list contains 232,296 areas of the following constituent geographies:

• 171,372 Output Areas in England
• 46,351 Output Areas in Scotland
• 4,537 Small Areas in Northern Ireland
• 10,036 Output Areas in Wales

Please visit ONS Beginner's Guide to UK Geography for more info.

The boundaries are available as either extent of the realm (usually this is the Mean Low Water mark but in some cases boundaries extend beyond this to include off shore islands) or

clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water mark).

Excel Age-Range creator for Office for National Statistics (ONS) Mid year population estimates (MYE) covering each year between 1999 and 2016 These files take into account the revised estimates for 2002-2010 released in April 2013 down to Local Authority level and the post 2011 estimates based on the Census results. Scotland and Northern Ireland data has not been revised, so Great Britain and United Kingdom totals comprise the original data for these plus revised England and Wales figures. This Excel based tool enables users to query the single year of age raw data so that any age range can easily be calculated without having to carry out often complex, and time consuming formulas that could also be open to human error. Simply select the lower and upper age range for both males and females and the spreadsheet will return the total population for the range. Please adhere to the terms and conditions of supply contained within the file. Tip: You can copy and paste the rows you are interested in to another worksheet by using the filters at the top of the columns and then select all by pressing Ctrl+A. Then simply copy and paste the cells to a new location. ONS Mid year population estimates Open Excel tool (London Boroughs, Regions and National, 1999-2016) Also available is a custom-age tool for all geographies in the UK. Open the tool for all UK geographies (local authority and above) for: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. This full MYE dataset by single year of age (SYA) age and gender is available as a Datastore package here. Ward Level Population estimates Single year of age population tool for 2002 to 2015 for all wards in London. New 2014 Ward boundary estimates Ward boundary changes in May 2014 only affected three London boroughs - Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, and Tower Hamlets. The estimates between 2001-2013 have been calculated by the GLA by taking the proportion of a the old ward that falls within the new ward based on the proportion of population living in each area at the 2011 Census. Therefore, these estimates are purely indicative and are not official statistics and not endorsed by ONS. From 2014 onwards, ONS began publishing official estimates for the new ward boundaries. Download here.