National Statistics Postcode Directory (NSPD)

The National Statistics Postcode Directory (NSPD) is maintained by the Office for National Statistics. Until May 2006 it was known as the All Fields Postcode Directory (AFPD).

The NSPD is one of ONS Geography's key products. It lists all unit postcodes in the United Kingdom and assigns them to a range of administrative, health, electoral and other geographies. Postcode grid references are provided and counts of the number of addresses, delivery points and small businesses in each postcode are also available.

The product contains both live and terminated postcodes and therefore grows with each new version, currently containing data on over 2.3 million postcodes. It is released quarterly (in February, May, August and November).

Information on the latest postcode updates is available on the Royal Mail website.

The product is created using Gridlink® methodology - this means that the postcode grid reference is that of the address closest to the postcode mean, and postcodes are assigned to administrative areas using Ordnance Survey's Boundary-Line^TM (a digitised set of administrative boundaries).

The NSPD is used by a variety of customers including national and local government departments, private industry, charities and academics. Two NSPD products are available – Full and Core (see file specifications below). Our largest single customer is the NHS, for whom we produce a specially tailored extract known as the NHS Postcode Directory (NHSPD).

Directories are released on CD-ROM, either for the whole UK, constituent countries of the UK or individual Government Office Regions.

A User Guide is supplied to all new customers and Version Notes are provided with each quarterly update. These can also be downloaded below.

The NSPD can be ordered by completing the order form below and returning it to ONS Geography by e-mail or post:

NSPD Order Form (1.1Mb, zip)
Please note that this can be downloaded in both MS Word and pdf formats.

NSPD User Guide and Version Notes (579Kb, zipped file)

Details of the NSPD charging policy

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This page last revised: Monday, 9 June 2008