Population and Society
Our Population and Society domain covers statistics on the size and geographic spread of the population, on the factors driving population change (including births, deaths and migration), and on people’s lifestyles and culture, including sport, language, and identity.
Our goal is to make sure that data and statistics are of sufficient quality and value to reliably support public debate and inform decision making for a wide range of stakeholders.
We will continue our assessments of the 2021 and 2022 Censuses, and we will engage with statistic producers on developments to transform population statistics. As part of this work, we are assessing the Office for National Statistics’ Admin-Based Population Estimates (ABPE’s) that are derived from its Dynamic Population Model.
In our wider work in the domain, we will be following up on our interim review on gender identity and also our previous regulatory work on mortality statistics.
Contact our regulators for this domain via regulation@statistics.gov.uk
Planned Work
| Project | Geography | Project Type | Timescale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin Based Population Estimates (ABPE)’s derived from the Dynamic Population Model (Office for National Statistics) | England and Wales | Assessment | January - June 2024 |
| 2022 Census (National Records of Scotland) | Scotland | Assessment follow up on Phase 2 and starting Phase 3 | Continuing from 2021/22 |
| 2021 Census (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) | Northern Ireland | Assessment: Phase 3 | Not yet started |
| 2021 Census (Office for National Statistics) | England and Wales | Assessment: Phase 3 | Not yet started |
| Follow up to systemic review of Long Term International Migration statistics (Office for National Statistics) | United Kingdom | Review | Continuing from 2023 |
| Gender Identity Review | England and Wales | Review | Continuing from 2023 |
| Review of Excess Deaths reporting | England and Wales | Follow-up | Continuing from 2023 |
| Mortality Statistics (Office for National Statistics) | England and Wales | Follow-up | Continuing from 2023 |
Correspondence
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Ed Humpherson to Professor Sir Ian Diamond: Request for assessment of Admin Based Population Estimates for England and Wales
16 February 2024
Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation to Sir Ian Diamond, Office for National Statistics
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Emma Rourke to Ed Humpherson: OSR Review of International Migration Statistics
19 December 2023
Emma Rourke, Office for National Statistics to Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation
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Ed Humpherson to Rob England: Withdrawn Asylum Applications
14 December 2023
Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation
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Ed Humpherson to Emma Rourke: ONS Migration Statistics Transformation
7 December 2023
Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation to Emma Rourke, Office for National Statistics
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Maya Forstater to Ed Humpherson: ONS research into 2021 England and Wales Census data on Gender Identity
30 November 2023
Maya Forstater, Sex Matters to Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation
Publications
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OSR’s review of excess deaths reporting
13 February 2023
Published in: Reviews
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Review of Migration Statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics
1 March 2022
Published in: Reviews
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Review of Loneliness Statistics
14 September 2021
Published in: Systemic Reviews
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Review of population estimates and projections produced by the Office for National Statistics
10 May 2021
Published in: Reviews
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COVID-19 surveillance and registered deaths data review
22 April 2020
Published in: Reviews
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Assessment of 2021 Censuses in the UK – Preliminary findings
4 October 2019
Published in: Assessment Report
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Compliance check: Transparency and communication of International Passenger Survey methods changes
18 October 2018
Published in:
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Improving Statistics on City Regions – our evaluation of the impacts
10 July 2018
Published in: Systemic Reviews
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Welsh Publication Time Exemption
22 March 2018
Published in: Exemption Request
News & Events
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OSR updates on ONS’s progress with the transformation of international migration statistics
7 December 2023
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OSR Publishes Assessment of 2022 Census in Scotland
4 April 2023
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OSR confirms the National Statistics designation of 2021 Census in England and Wales
28 June 2022
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OSR is delighted to confirm the National Statistics designation of 2021 Census in Northern Ireland
24 May 2022
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OSR statement on claims related to economic migrants
28 April 2022
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OSR statement on statistics around refugees
30 March 2022
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OSR publishes report on ONS migration statistics
1 March 2022
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OSR welcomes ONS blog on COVID-19 deaths: to say only 17,000 people have died from COVID-19 is highly misleading
26 January 2022
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OSR Publishes Assessment Reports for 2021 Censuses
17 November 2021
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Assessment of 2021 Censuses in the UK
11 September 2020