Deprivation datasets
The official indices of deprivation for all four UK nations, ranking small neighbourhoods from most to least deprived. Each nation measures deprivation its own way, so ranks can't be compared across borders.
Published by
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency; Scottish Government; Welsh Government
Covers
UK
Years
2017 to 2025
Measures
Each measure is one kind of value you can request, using its id.
| Measure | Unit | Combining areas |
|---|---|---|
Index of Multiple Deprivation rankimd-rank | rank of 33,755 LSOAs, where 1 is the most deprived | Not combined |
Index of Multiple Deprivation decileimd-decile | decile, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of LSOAs | Not combined |
Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation rankwimd-rank | rank of 1,909 LSOAs, where 1 is the most deprived | Not combined |
Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation decilewimd-decile | decile, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of LSOAs | Not combined |
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ranksimd-rank | rank of 6,976 data zones, where 1 is the most deprived | Not combined |
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation decilesimd-decile | decile, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of data zones | Not combined |
Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure ranknimdm-rank | rank of 890 super output areas, where 1 is the most deprived | Not combined |
“Adds up” means you can total it over areas or convert it to other areas. See Measures and periods for why some can't be combined.
Areas and years
Request each of these with its geography and code year as geography and boundaryYear.
| Areas | Code year | Periods | Covers | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) | 2021 | 2025 | England | 33,755 |
| Lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) | 2011 | 2019 | Wales | 1,909 |
| Data zones | 2011 | 2020 | Scotland | 6,976 |
| Northern Ireland super output areas | 2011 | 2017 | Northern Ireland | 890 |
Things to know
- A position within England alone. The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish indices use different methods, domains and dates, so a rank or decile cannot be compared across nations.
- Ranks 1 to 33,755 are served as published.
- A rank records an order, not a distance: the gap between ranks 1 and 2 need not equal the gap between 100 and 101. Averaging ranks over areas produces a number with no meaning.
- Deciles divide England's 33,755 LSOAs into ten near-equal groups by rank.
- A decile is a band of ranks. Averaging deciles over areas produces a number with no meaning, and the share of a place's LSOAs in each decile is the defensible summary instead.
- A position within Wales alone. The English, Scottish and Northern Irish indices use different methods, domains and dates, so a rank or decile cannot be compared across nations.
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- Taken from the Welsh Government's published ranks. The separately published scores are rounded to one decimal place, so ranking them does not reproduce these ranks.
- Taken from the Welsh Government's published deciles.
- A position within Scotland alone. The English, Welsh and Northern Irish indices use different methods, domains and dates, so a rank or decile cannot be compared across nations.
- SIMD 2020v2, taken from the Scottish Government's published data zone lookup, whose ranks agree with its separately published ranks workbook.
- Taken from the Scottish Government's published data zone lookup. Quintiles are also published there but are not offered as a measure.
- A decile is a band of ranks. Averaging deciles over areas produces a number with no meaning, and the share of a place's data zones in each decile is the defensible summary instead.
- A position within Northern Ireland alone. The English, Welsh and Scottish indices use different methods, domains and dates, so a rank cannot be compared across nations.
- The publisher labels these areas SOA2001. Super output areas were drawn for the 2001 census and reused unchanged for 2011, and every code matches the 2011 release.
- NISRA publishes ranks, not deciles, for super output areas, so no decile measure is offered.
- A rank records an order, not a distance. Averaging ranks over areas produces a number with no meaning.
Corrections and improvements
These reviewed changes apply to what the API serves for this data. The publisher's source files are not changed; when a code correction applies, the served record retains the publisher's code as sourceAreaCode.
| Change | What the API serves | Applies when |
|---|---|---|
| Opt-in canonical measure-unit presentation | On the explicit canonical request, each numeric value and any publisher-supplied interval bound is multiplied by the measure's declared scale; the response names the resulting unit and calculation. | GET /v1/data/{measure-id}?units=canonical |
curl "https://api.ukdataatlas.com/v1/corrections?measure=imd-rank"/correctionsList reviewed correctionsRequest it
Get the first page of imd-rank for lower layer super output areas (lsoas):
curl "https://api.ukdataatlas.com/v1/data/imd-rank?period=2025&geography=lsoa&boundaryYear=2021&limit=5"Read the measure's full definition, including every period it's published for:
curl "https://api.ukdataatlas.com/v1/measures/imd-rank"/data/{measure-id}Get observationsget/data/{measure-id}/seriesGet a time seriesSource and licence
| Dataset | Publisher | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Indices of Multiple Deprivation | Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation | Scottish Government | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation | Welsh Government | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
Using this data in something you publish? Get attribution text with measure=imd-rank returns the credit line to include.
Downloads
Download complete publisher-observation files instead of paging through the API. Each file has a stable hash and covers one measure, period set and source geography. Any reviewed served code correction is documented and retains its publisher code on the affected record. The source and licence information above applies to these files too; preserve the attribution and note any cleaning or reformatting when you redistribute one.
| Measure | Coverage | Records | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
Index of Multiple Deprivation decileimd-decile | Lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) · 2025 · code year 2021 | 33,755 | JSON |
Index of Multiple Deprivation rankimd-rank | Lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) · 2025 · code year 2021 | 33,755 | JSON |
Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure ranknimdm-rank | Northern Ireland super output areas · 2017 · code year 2011 | 890 | JSON |
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation decilesimd-decile | Data zones · 2020 · code year 2011 | 6,976 | JSON |
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ranksimd-rank | Data zones · 2020 · code year 2011 | 6,976 | JSON |
Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation decilewimd-decile | Lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) · 2019 · code year 2011 | 1,909 | JSON |
Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation rankwimd-rank | Lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) · 2019 · code year 2011 | 1,909 | JSON |