A PDF map that shows the counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at 1 April 2023. (File Size - 583 KB)

In 2023, almost nine million people lived in Greater London, making it the most populated ceremonial county in England. The West Midlands Metropolitan County, which contains the large city of Birmingham, was the second-largest county at 2.98 million inhabitants, followed by Greater Manchester and then West Yorkshire with populations of 2.95 million and 2.4 million, respectively. Kent, Essex, and Hampshire were the three next-largest counties in terms of population, each with around 1.89 million people. A patchwork of regions England is just one of the four countries that compose the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with England, Scotland and Wales making up Great Britain. England is therefore not to be confused with Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a whole. Within England, the next subdivisions are the nine regions of England, containing various smaller units such as unitary authorities, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. The counties in this statistic, however, are based on the ceremonial counties of England as defined by the Lieutenancies Act of 1997. Regions of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Like England, the other countries of the United Kingdom have their own regional subdivisions, although with some different terminology. Scotland’s subdivisions are council areas, while Wales has unitary authorities, and Northern Ireland has local government districts. As of 2022, the most-populated Scottish council area was Glasgow City, with over 622,000 inhabitants. In Wales, Cardiff had the largest population among its unitary authorities, and in Northern Ireland, Belfast was the local government area with the most people living there.

This file contains the digital vector boundaries for Counties and Unitary Authorities in the United Kingdom, as at December 2019. The boundaries available are: (BUC) Ultra Generalised (500m) - clipped to the coastline (Mean High Water mark). Contains both Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights. Download File SizesUltra Generalised (500m) - clipped to the coastline (200 KB)Units for the following fields:St_length = metresSt_area = metres2REST URL of ArcGIS for INSPIRE View Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/MapServer/exts/InspireView REST URL of ArcGIS for INSPIRE Feature Download Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/MapServer/exts/InspireFeatureDownload REST URL of Feature Access Service https://ons-inspire.esriuk.com/arcgis/rest/services/Administrative_Boundaries/Counties_and_Unitary_Authorities_December_2019_Boundaries_UK_BUC2/FeatureServer

A PDF map that shows the local authority districts, counties and unitary authorities in the United Kingdom as at April 2023. The map has been created to show the United Kingdom from country level down to local authority district level. (File Size - 1,909 KB)

The population of the United Kingdom in 2023 was estimated to be approximately 68.3 million in 2023, with almost 9.48 million people living in South East England. London had the next highest population, at over 8.9 million people, followed by the North West England at 7.6 million. With the UK's population generally concentrated in England, most English regions have larger populations than the constituent countries of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which had populations of 5.5 million, 3.16 million, and 1.92 million respectively. English counties and cities The United Kingdom is a patchwork of various regional units, within England the largest of these are the regions shown here, which show how London, along with the rest of South East England had around 18 million people living there in this year. The next significant regional units in England are the 47 metropolitan and ceremonial counties. After London, the metropolitan counties of the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and West Yorkshire were the biggest of these counties, due to covering the large urban areas of Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds respectively. Regional divisions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland The smaller countries that comprise the United Kingdom each have different local subdivisions. Within Scotland these are called council areas whereas in Wales the main regional units are called unitary authorities. Scotland's largest Council Area by population is that of Glasgow City at over 622,000, while in Wales, it was the Cardiff Unitary Authority at around 372,000. Northern Ireland, on the other hand, has eleven local government districts, the largest of which is Belfast with a population of around 348,000.

INDEX VILLARIS: or, An Alphabetical Table of all the cities, market-towns, parishes, villages, and private seats in England and Wales was first published by John Adams in 1680. This dataset consists of a transcription of all 24,000 place-names listed in Index Villaris, together with the the symbols representing Adams's categorisation of each place and modern versions of the place-names and the counties and administrative hundred in which they lie or lay. It also comprises a transcription of the latitude and longitude recorded by Adams, and another set of coordinates generated by the application of a thin plate spline transformation calculated by matching some 2,000 place-names to the accurately-georeferenced CAMPOP Towns dataset.

The dataset has been corrected and refined to include linkage to other geospatial references such as GB1900 and OpenStreetMap, and this version is available as GeoJSON in the Linked Places Format.

The dataset can be viewed both on an interactive map and in reconstituted tabular form through the GitHub repository here.

This archive contains aerial photography of UK boroughs (towns/cities) and counties. The scale of the photographs depends to some extent on the borough/county, but is predominantly 1:5000 for towns/cities and 1:10000 for complete counties.

These vertical aerial photographs are taken with a large camera mounted in the floor of an aeroplane flying in a series of pre-planned flight lines. The images overlap by 60% along the flight line to allow for stereoscopic (3D) viewing. There is a 25% overlap between flight lines.

In addition to their prime application in photogrammetric mapping (from updating and contouring existing maps to preparing large scale engineering plans), air photos are used for environmental studies, general planning, land use and land capability, soils, pollution, forestry, mining and quarrying, housing and leisure development, agriculture, geology, water, transport and civil engineering, boundary disputes, public enquiries, etc.

The data is stored mainly as colour photographic negatives and can be supplied as both digital and photographic products (positive or negative). To find out what imagery is available for a specific area, a cover search can be performed free of charge. Price lists and further information about cover searches are available, on request, from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).

Note: All photography is flown to RICS Specification for Aerial Photography Issue III, see references.

Street Noise-Level Dataset — Regulatory & Governmental Use

Silencio’s Street Noise-Level Dataset provides regulatory bodies, governmental agencies, and public health authorities with the most reliable and detailed data on environmental noise worldwide. Built from over 35 billion datapoints, collected via our mobile app and enhanced through AI-powered interpolation, this dataset covers hyper-local average noise levels (dBA) across streets, neighborhoods, and cities in over 200 countries.

Our dataset is specifically suited for noise regulation, environmental impact assessments, policy-making, and compliance monitoring. It offers objective, real-world acoustic data that goes beyond traditional noise models by combining actual user-collected measurements with AI-predicted values. Authorities can use the data to map noise pollution hotspots, monitor changes over time, enforce regulations, and inform sustainable urban and environmental strategies.

Silencio also operates the world’s largest noise complaint database, giving policymakers a unique tool to correlate objective noise exposure with subjective community reports for more people-focused decision-making.

Delivery options are flexible, including: • CSV exports • S3 bucket access • High-resolution image maps suitable for integration into reports, GIS platforms, or public communication.

The dataset is available both as historical records and continuously updated data. An API is currently in development, and we are open to early access discussions and custom integrations tailored to government and regulatory workflows.

Fully anonymized and fully GDPR-compliant, Silencio’s data supports transparent, evidence-based environmental and public health decision-making.

In 2023, London had a gross domestic product of over 569 billion British pounds, by far the most of any region of the United Kingdom. The region of South East England which surrounds London had the second-highest GDP in this year, at over 360 billion pounds. North West England, which includes the major cities of Manchester and Liverpool, had the third-largest GDP among UK regions, at almost 250 billion pounds. Levelling Up the UK London’s economic dominance of the UK can clearly be seen when compared to the other regions of the country. In terms of GDP per capita, the gap between London and the rest of the country is striking, standing at over 63,600 pounds per person in the UK capital, compared with just over 37,100 pounds in the rest of the country. To address the economic imbalance, successive UK governments have tried to implement "levelling-up policies", which aim to boost investment and productivity in neglected areas of the country. The success of these programs going forward may depend on their scale, as it will likely take high levels of investment to reverse economic neglect regions have faced in the recent past. Overall UK GDP The gross domestic product for the whole of the United Kingdom amounted to 2.56 trillion British pounds in 2024. During this year, GDP grew by 0.9 percent, following a growth rate of 0.4 percent in 2023. Due to the overall population of the UK growing faster than the economy, however, GDP per capita in the UK fell in both 2023 and 2024. Nevertheless, the UK remains one of the world’s biggest economies, with just five countries (the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India) having larger economies. It is it likely that several other countries will overtake the UK economy in the coming years, with Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico all expected to have larger economies than Britain by 2050.

Street Noise-Level — Statistically Interpolated + Processed Measurements

Connect with our experts for the world’s most comprehensive Street Noise-Level Dataset. Access hyper-local and global average noise levels (dBA) from public streets across over 200 countries. This dataset, built using over 35 billion datapoints and developed in collaboration with leading acoustics professionals, provides unparalleled insight into real-world urban soundscapes. Unlike conventional noise models, which rely solely on simulations, our dataset combines real measurements with AI-powered interpolation to deliver statistically robust, highly accurate, and spatially complete noise-level data.

Power Your AI & Urban Analytics with Real-World Noise Insights

What makes this dataset unique? Silencio’s processed and interpolated Street Noise-Level Dataset is the largest and most precise global collection of acoustic data available. It integrates real user-collected measurements with AI-driven modeling, ensuring unmatched ground truth for AI training, urban intelligence, and noise-impact assessments.

Optimized for AI, Urban Planning & Research:

Empower your AI models and spatial analyses with rich, diverse, and realistic noise data. Ideal for sound recognition, smart cities, mobility modeling, noise mapping, real estate analysis, and sustainable urban planning.

Trusted & Compliant:

All data is collected via our mobile app, strictly anonymized, fully consented, and 100% GDPR-compliant — ensuring privacy and ethical integrity.

Historical & Up-to-Date:

Leverage both historical and continuously updated noise data to uncover trends, detect change, and power predictive models.

Hyper-Local & Global Coverage:

With coverage of over 200 countries and high spatial granularity, the dataset provides insights from the city level down to street segments.

Seamless Integration:

Delivered via CSV exports or S3 bucket delivery (APIs coming soon) for easy integration into AI training pipelines, geospatial tools, or analytics platforms.

Coordinates in British National Grid of typicality features used to define the centre of Southampton, UK for 12 years from 1560 to the 2015. The map sources were: Southampton Atlas, 1560 (Sheet II) Southampton Atlas, 1611 (Sheet III) Southampton Atlas, 1791 (Sheet IX) Southampton Atlas, 1862 (Sheet XII) Elizabethan Times catalogue, 1835 (Map 19) Elizabethan Times catalogue, 1866 (Map 21) Historic Ordnance Survey map data, 1890, Epoch 2 (County Series 1st Revision) Historic Ordnance Survey map data, 1910, Epoch 3 (County Series 2nd Revision) Historic Ordnance Survey map data, 1930, Epoch 4 (County Series 3rd Revision) Historic Ordnance Survey map data, 1960, Epoch i5 (National Grid Imperial, 6 inches to the mile, First Editions) Historic Ordnance Survey map data, 1990, Epoch m7 (National Grid 1:10,000 metric and 10,560 Imperial - Latest editions) Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap Topography

This is the ONS Postcode Directory (ONSPD) for the United Kingdom as at February 2024 in Comma Separated Variable (CSV) and ASCII text (TXT) formats. This file contains the multi CSVs so that postcode areas can be opened in MS Excel. To download the zip file click the Download button. The ONSPD relates both current and terminated postcodes in the United Kingdom to a range of current statutory administrative, electoral, health and other area geographies. It also links postcodes to pre-2002 health areas, 1991 Census enumeration districts for England and Wales, 2001 Census Output Areas (OA) and Super Output Areas (SOA) for England and Wales, 2001 Census OAs and SOAs for Northern Ireland and 2001 Census OAs and Data Zones (DZ) for Scotland. It now contains 2021 Census OAs and SOAs for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It helps support the production of area-based statistics from postcoded data. The ONSPD is produced by ONS Geography, who provide geographic support to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and geographic services used by other organisations. The ONSPD is issued quarterly. (File size - 231 MB) Please note that this product contains Royal Mail, Gridlink, LPS (Northern Ireland), Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.

This is the ONS Postcode Directory (ONSPD) for the United Kingdom as at February 2023 in Comma Separated Variable (CSV) and ASCII text (TXT) formats. This file contains the multi CSVs so that postcode areas can be opened in MS Excel. To download the zip file click the Download button. The ONSPD relates both current and terminated postcodes in the United Kingdom to a range of current statutory administrative, electoral, health and other area geographies. It also links postcodes to pre-2002 health areas, 1991 Census enumeration districts for England and Wales, 2001 Census Output Areas (OA) and Super Output Areas (SOA) for England and Wales, 2001 Census OAs and SOAs for Northern Ireland and 2001 Census OAs and Data Zones (DZ) for Scotland. It now contains 2021 Census OAs and SOAs for England and Wales. It helps support the production of area based statistics from postcoded data. The ONSPD is produced by ONS Geography, who provide geographic support to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and geographic services used by other organisations. The ONSPD is issued quarterly. (File size - 234 MB)NOTE: The 2022 ONSPDs included an incorrect update of the ITL field with two LA changes in Northamptonshire. This error has been corrected from the February 2023 ONSPD.NOTE: There was an issue with the originally published file where some change orders yet to be included in OS Boundary-LineÔ (including The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022, The North Yorkshire (Structural Changes) Order 2022 and The Somerset (Structural Changes) Order 2022) were mistakenly implemented for terminated postcodes. Version 2 corrects this, so that ward codes E05014171–E05014393 are not yet included. Please note that this product contains Royal Mail, Gridlink, LPS (Northern Ireland), Ordnance Survey and ONS Intellectual Property Rights.

London had the highest unemployment rate among regions of the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 2025 at ****percent, while for the UK as a whole, the unemployment rate was ****percent. Three other regions also had an unemployment rate higher than the national average, while Northern Ireland had the lowest unemployment rate in this time period, at ****percent. Labor market recovery after COVID-19 After reaching historically low levels of unemployment in 2019, there was a noticeable spike in the UK unemployment rate in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. After peaking at ****percent in late 2020, the unemployment rate declined throughout 2021 and 2022. High levels of job vacancies, resignations, and staff shortages in 2022, were all indicative of a very tight labor market that year, but all these measures have started to point in the direction of a slightly looser labor market. UK's regional economic divide While the North of England has some of the country’s largest cities, the sheer size and economic power of London is much larger than the UK's other urban agglomerations. Partly, due to the size of London, the United Kingdom is one of Europe’s most centralized counties, and there is a clear divide between the economic prospects of north and south England. In 2022, for example, the gross domestic product per head in London was ****** British pounds, far higher than the UK average of *******pounds, and significantly larger than North East England, the region with the lowest GDP per head at *******pounds.

In 2023/24 there were 116 homicide offences recorded in London, the most of any region of the United Kingdom during that time period. North West England, which includes the large city of Manchester had 71 homicides, and had the second-highest number of homicides. In the same reporting period, the constituent countries of Northern Ireland and Wales reported the fewest homicides, at 24 each. Homicides in the UK falling despite recent uptick Since 2002/03, all three jurisdictions of the UK; England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, have seen their homicide rates fall, with Scotland seeing the steepest decline. The most significant decline in homicides in this period occurred between 2002/03 and 2014/15, which saw the annual number of homicides in England and Wales half from over 1,000 to 500. This trend was suddenly reversed from 2015/16 onwards, with homicides rising to around 700 per year between 2016/17 and 2019/20. While homicides fell back to 583 in 2023/24, it remains to be seen if this pattern will continue. Knives used in almost half of all murders In 2022/23 a knife or other sharp instrument was used in over 41 percent of all murders in England and Wales, making this, by far, the most common method of killing in that reporting year. The overall number of knife homicides reached 244 in 2022/23, compared with 282 in the previous year, and just above the 281 reported in 2017/18. Firearm homicides were much rarer than knife homicides, with 29 taking place in the same reporting year, and homicides caused by shooting only accounting for 4.9 percent of homicides overall.

Annual data on death registrations by area of usual residence in the UK. Summary tables including age-standardised mortality rates.