Monitoring Review 4/15

Introduction

Population estimates and projections are among the UK’s most prominent National Statistics, providing important input into national and local planning activity and to a large number of other economic and social statistics. For this reason, the UK Statistics Authority assessed whether these statistics continue to comply with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The statistics are produced across the UK by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Welsh Government, National Records of Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). In July 2015, the Statistics Authority published Assessment reports 3091 , 3102 , 3113 and 3124 , which examine these statistics for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. These reports confirm that the population statistics for each constituent country are designated as National Statistics, subject to the relevant producer bodies implementing certain requirements set by the Statistics Authority. The producer bodies have already begun to address these Requirements. This comparison paper brings together the main similarities and differences between the four producer bodies that we found during the course of this assessment.