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Government Publications: International Statistics

United Kingdom

  • UK National Statistics
    The Publication Hub remains the first port of call for all those seeking the latest statistics from government departments in the UK. It is the central website for hosting all first releases of National Statistics.

  • Office for National Statistics
    The agency that conducts the Census for England and Wales. This is a decennial census, meaning that it is conducted every 10 years. It's important to note that Census topics and interest areas are not universal. You may, for example, be surprised to discover that the Census for England and Wales does not ask for income and earnings figures.

    If you need income/earnings data for England or Wales you will have to settle for information derived from one of the smaller sample surveys conducted by the Office of National Statistics. For example, Income and Lifestyle topics are included in the annual Regional Trends reports.

    What sorts of topics were covered in past Census surveys?

    The major topic areas from the 2001 Census were:
    • Demographic and social information such as age; place of birth; ethnicity; general health; marital status; migrant status; religion; school children/students; Welsh language (only asked in Wales).
    • Employment and academic qualifications of people aged 16-74.
    • Number of households; type and composition of household.
    • Housing - i.e., shared or unshared; detached, semi-detached or terraced; etc.

      Census surveys from previous years:

      You can determine the topics covered in older Censuses by consulting the introduction at the beginning of each of the print volumes.
    • The print volumes are available for the Census years from 1921-1931, and 1951-1991. The 1941 Census was not conducted due to the War.
    • The best way to search for these print volumes at UBC Library is to navigate to the catalogue and choose the "Subject Keyword" search option. Then use the keywords: great britain census and select the census year you are interested in.
    • You will notice that each census publication has its own catalogue record and may even have a slightly different call number than its fellows. For this reason we strongly recommend that you conduct your research in the catalogue first, then go to the stacks with the relevant call numbers in hand.
    • For the 2001 Census, UBC Library only has a statistical highlights report in print with 145 tables "covering the range of topics of the 2001 Census." This is available at call number HA1124 .C46 2003

  • General Register Office for Scotland
    Scotland's Census is administered by the General Register Office for Scotland. A very limited array of data are available online for free for 1991; considerably more free data are available for 2001 and 2011 here.

    UBC Library has some limited print volumes from the Scottish Census including:
  • Northern Ireland Statistics and Research
    Northern Ireland's Census is administered by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research.

    UBC Library has print volumes for most of the released data from the 1981 Census and the 1991 Census.

    The Library also has the 2001 Census Report to Parliament, which provides a single volume of highlight tables; a volume of 2001 Key Statistics; and a volume of 2001 Standard Tables.