The UK 2021/2 Classification of Output Areas (2021/2 UK OAC) is a hierarchical geodemographic classification which identifies neighbourhoods across the UK that share similar characteristics. The taxonomy classifies Output Areas (OAs) into 8 different Supergroups, along with 21 nested Groups and 52 nested Subgroups.

Each LSOA (Lower layer Super Output Area, England and Wales), Data Zone (Scotland) or Super Data Zone (Northern Ireland) is made up of smaller OAs (England, Scotland and Wales) or Data Zones (Northern Ireland). We assign an OAC Subgroup to each larger aggregation by tallying the total populations for each Output Area falling into each OAC Subgroup. The higher-level aggregation is then assigned to whichever Subgroup that accounts for the largest share of its population. This approach enables 2021/2 LSOAC to share the familiar taxonomy of the widely-used 2021/2 UK OAC, and uses the research finding that more than three quarters (77%) of LSOA (or equivalent) zones host populations from four or fewer of the 52 Subgroups, and a large majority of zones from different Subgroups are part of the same Group. We anticipate that most LSOAC users will conduct analysis at the Group or Supergroup level.

Content

The data are supplied in CSV format. Additional information about these data, including the detailed typology, glossary of variables and terms, and distributional statistics, is available for download below, along with classification codes and labels.

Quality, Representation and Bias

Built using official government statistical estimates, the quality of the underpinning data is understood to be very high, and offers coverage of every UK neighbourhood. The classification methodology has been published and subjected to independent peer review. We provide additional documentation of the ways in which differences in Census variables differs amongst UK nations.

The Census in Scotland was delayed from 2021 until 2022, and small area outputs from Northern Ireland's Census were not available at the time of production of the classification, which was originally released for England and Wales only. Now updated, 2021/2 UK OAC is constructed entirely from census data, from 2021 for England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and from 2022 for Scotland.
2021/2 UK LSOAC summarises general population characteristics and built environment attributes and are designed for wide use in research for policy. The Wyszomierski et al (2023) paper provides a full rationale and documentation of the work undertaken.