FOI reference: FOI-2024-2482
You asked
Could you please provide a breakdown of the English population by postcode district, single year age and sex/all persons? I notice this is available for the 2011 census but not for the 2021 census.
We said
Thank you for your freedom of information request.
Census 2021 data for single year of age was published in the topic summary dataset TS007 - Age by single year for middle layer super output areas (MSOAs) and higher level geography only. Sex by single year of age data was published in the dataset TS009 - Sex by single year of age. The lowest geography for which this was published was lower tier local authorities.
The topic summary datasets provide the most detailed information possible at the lowest level of geography possible subject to disclosure control.
We aimed to have as many equivalent tables as possible from 2011 available in 2021. However, testing highlighted some disclosure risks that had increased since the last census. Some detailed classifications at very low geographies led to many correct identifications so the main differences will be seen in these datasets. The greater risk in 2021 is down to the greater availability of information on individuals in other public sources, against which a person could match low level census information, to identify them.
Age banded data for lower geographies was made available as part of the release of multivariate data via the 'Create a custom dataset' tool. There are a number of different age bands available, and these are available at Output Area level subject to disclosure control.
The only standard Census 2021 datasets published for postcode geographies were headcounts and number of households, and this is available via Nomis.
You may be able to commission a dataset for age by sex data for the postcode district geography using the usual commissioned table service but the availability of data is subject to our strict statistical disclosure control process to ensure there is no risk of disclosure of personal information in the table. More information on this process is available here: Protecting personal data in Census 2021 results - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).