The London Output Area Classification (LOAC) is a geodemographic that summarises the built and population characteristics of all 2021 Output Areas within Greater London. The region is organised into a hierarchical typology composed of 7 Supergroups and 16 Groups. The classification was created from the 2021 Census data and was a partnership between the Geographic Data Service and the Greater London Authority.

Content

The data is available for download below. Also available are a relevant shapefile and geopackage. A lookup for comparison between groups is also provided, as well as Borough profiles, cluster descriptions and a technical manual that details data input, cluster analysis and description, as well as end user consultation.

An older edition of LOAC, based on the 2011 Census data, is available via the Related Record link below.

Quality, Representation and Bias

A journal article accompanies LOAC which provides a thorough evaluation. All data used for this classification are sourced from the 2021 Census so bounded by the usual operational quality / representation and bias of a national census. The geodemographic classification created presents a best effort of the authors to represent the characteristics of the population and geographic context of London, however, there are decisions made during the classification process that guide these representations. For a full overview of these decisions and their rationale, see the published paper.