2011 United Kingdom census

Census 2011
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General information
CountryUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
AuthorityOffice for National Statistics
Websitewww.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census/2011ukcensuses

A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all counties of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet.[1] The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the census in England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) is responsible for the census in Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) is responsible for the census in Northern Ireland.

The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department formed in 2008 and which reports directly to Parliament. ONS is the UK Government's single largest statistical producer of independent statistics on the UK's economy and society, used to assist the planning and allocation of resources, policy-making and decision-making.[2] ONS designs, manages and runs the census in England and Wales. In its capacity as the national statistics office for the United Kingdom, ONS also compiles and releases census tables for the United Kingdom when the data from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are complete.

In the run-up to the census both the main UK political parties expressed concerns about the increasing cost and the value for money of the census, and it was suggested that the 2011 census might be the last decennial census to be taken.[3]

The first results from the 2011 census, age and sex, and occupied households estimates for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, were released on 16 July 2012.[4] The first results for Scotland,[5] and the first UK-wide results, were published on 17 December 2012.[6] More detailed and specialised data were published from 2013.

  1. ^ The 2011 Census programme Office for National Statistics.
  2. ^ "The History of the Office for National Statistics". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2008. Archived from the original on 4 April 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beyond2011background was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ ONS.gov.uk – First census release. 16 July 2012.
  5. ^ Census Results Scotland's 2011 Census, Accessed 26 April 2013
  6. ^ Release: 2011 Census, Population and Household Estimates for the United Kingdom, Accessed 26 April 2013.