2011 Census

The 2011 Census was undertaken on 27th March 2011. Statistics on the main resident population base (usual residents) can be found at  Office for National Statistics (ONS) 
Geographies available

  • Census super output areas (SOA)
  • Census middle super output areas (MSOA)
  • wards
  • parishes
  • local authorities
  • regions
  • countries
Topics covered
  • usual resident population
  • age structure
  • living arrangements
  • marital and civil partnership status
  • country of birth
  • ethnic group
  • religion
  • health and provision of unpaid care
  • economic activity
  • hours worked
  • main language
  • passports held
  • household language
  • national identity
  • length of residency in the UK
Northumberland data National and local level data

Selected 2011 Census statistics by topic (Local authority, region country)

Origin Destination data (Flow Data)  latest release for data July 2014

  
Further 2011 Census key statistics, quick statistics and detailed characteristics tables from the ONS website.

Why have a Census?
The Census is undertaken every ten years by the ONS and provides a comprehensive ‘snapshot’ of the characteristics and distribution of the UK’s population. The results help central government, local authorities and other organisations to plan the delivery of public services, including education, transport, housing and social care, and to allocate and target funding according to identified needs.

Census tables
Data is published in a range of tables:
Key statistics (KS) - summary figures covering the full range of topics from the Census. These figures are available from national level, down to the very small Census output areas.
 
Quick statistics (QS) - generally provides information about a single Census topic. The classifications used are usually the full versions with the most categories and so provide the most detailed information available from the Census about the topic.
 
Local characteristics (LC) – series that cross tabulates two or more topics. Tables in the local characteristics family of tables have a minimum population threshold (size) of 100 persons and 40 households. This means they can be produced for output areas (OAs) and higher geographies. They provide the most detailed results possible for OAs.
 
Detailed characteristics (DC) - like the local characteristics series, the detailed characteristics series cross tabulates two or more topics. Tables are released for middle layer super output areas, wards and higher geographies. They are similar to local characteristics tables but provide considerably more detail about the topics than their local equivalents, as the larger population means the risk of disclosure of personal information is lower.
 
Origin - Destination data (also known as flow data) includes travel-to-work and migration patterns of individuals, cross tabulated by variables of interest (for example, occupation).
 
Non-UK born short-term residents (ST) - this series contains statistics about the characteristics of non-UK born short-term residents. A non-UK born short-term resident is defined as anyone living in England and Wales who was born outside the UK, who intended to stay in the UK for a period of between three and 12 months. Tables are released for local authorities in England and Wales and higher geographies.
 
Workday population (WD) - this series contains statistics about the characteristics of the workday population. The workday population is an estimate of the population during the working day. It includes everybody who works in an area, wherever they usually live and all respondents who live in the area but do not work. Tables are released for output areas in England and Wales and higher geographies.

 

2001 Census and earlier

Beyond 2011 – the 2021 Census
Every 10 years, for over 200 years, every household in England and Wales has been required to respond to the Census.
The 2011 Census successfully provided population statistics that will be used for the next decade by planners, policy makers and researchers across the public and private sectors. But our population is changing rapidly and the need to understand these changes will continue. Improvements in technology and government data sources also offer new opportunities.

During the last few years, the Beyond 2011 Programme assessed the different possible approaches to producing population and housing statistics in future. On the 2 March 2014, the national statistician recommended that the next Census in 2021 will be a predominantly online Census, supplemented by the further use of administrative and survey data.Following this recommendation, the Office for National Statistics set up a Census Transformation Programme (CTP). The vision for the programme is to make the best use of all available population data to help shape tomorrow, and the CTP will now take forward this vision through three major strands of concurrent work:
  • strand one will look at how to run the 2021 Census data collection operation and its coverage survey
  • strand two will deal with how we integrate Census and administrative and survey data to provide and disseminate Census outputs
  • strand three will look further ahead, addressing how we produce population statistics beyond the 2021 Census
For more information about the work of the CTP and the 2021 Census, click here.