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Latest releases

18 November 2009
Variant Projected Population of Scotland - 2008 based
General Register Office for Scotland
18 November 2009
National Population Projections - 2008-based additional variant population projections
Office for National Statistics
17 November 2009
Weekly provisional figures on deaths registered in England and Wales - 06/11/2009
Office for National Statistics
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Key releases

Migration Overview
Office for National Statistics
Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Office for National Statistics
ONS Population Statistics Revisions Policy
Office for National Statistics
Population Trends publication
Office for National Statistics
Immigration and Asylum Statistics
Home Office
Key Population and Vital Statistics (KPVS) publication
Office for National Statistics
National Population Projections
Office for National Statistics
Migration Products
Office for National Statistics
Scotland’s Population (annual report)
General Register Office for Scotland
Wales's Population
Welsh Assembly Government
Northern Ireland Population
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Theme: Population

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Population statistics describe the demographic characteristics of the UK population and its change. These include statistics on the size and geographical breakdown of the population, the number of people entering and leaving the UK each year and the number of people in different demographic subgroups.

Population - Final

Population statistics and demographic analyses measure many different aspects of the UK population and its change, including:

  • current and projected size of the population

  • population change over time

  • geographic distribution of the population

  • internal and international migration, including immigration and asylum

  • births and deaths, fertility and mortality analyses

  • ageing of the population

  • families and adoption statistics

  • marriages, cohabitations, civil partnerships and divorces

  • ethnic group composition of the population

While statistics are available for the UK, they are also available separately for England and Wales through the Office for National Statistics (ONS), for Scotland through the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) and for Northern Ireland through the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

The statistics are used by government for planning, monitoring and resource allocation and are of interest to a wide range of users including commercial companies, special interest groups, academia and the general public.

There is a UK Population Committee to oversee a UK-wide work programme on population statistics and demographic analysis. The Committee monitors progress as well as providing strategic input on its future direction.

As a result of changes in lifestyle and levels of individual mobility, producing population and migration statistics has become increasingly challenging. ONS is leading a substantial cross-government programme of work to improve population and migration statistics.

The recommendations of the National Statistician’s Interdepartmental Task Force on Migration Statistics (2006) are being implemented through this work programme. Subsequent parliamentary reviews have endorsed the work programme. The programme includes work to estimate and describe the quality of population estimates.