Census population data by London Ward

FOI REF: FOI-2023-1446

You asked

I am researching details of population changes decennially for each Ward in the City of London for each Census from 1801 to 2021. For 2021 (for example) you have lumped groups of Wards together whereas I want each Ward separately for Aldersgate, Aldgate, Bassishaw.

We said

Thank you for your freedom of information request. 

Although the broad picture of population change can be followed from census to census, the administrative geography in England and Wales is subject to frequent change and Local Authority boundaries change.  

The London Government Act 1963, which recognised officially the conurbation known as Greater London, created a new local government structure for the capital. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the area, resulting in local authorities responsible for larger areas and populations. The Act abolished the administrative counties of Middlesex and London (created in 1889), and absorbed parts of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Hertfordshire, plus the whole of the City of London, to form the administrative area of Greater London.

The ‘City of London’ is treated as one of the 33 London Boroughs, but is also often used to refer to the UK’s financial district (‘The City’ or ‘square mile’) and also the metropolis of all the boroughs combined (Greater London). It is unclear which area you are interested in. 

Additionally, statistics for all census years are not available in one place/format: 

Digital scans of all the pages from the census volumes from 1801 to 1931 are available from  http://www.histpop.org/  Please also see the associated download ‘Histpop instructions’ for navigation instructions.  

Due to the Second World War no census was taken in 1941. 

Statistics for 1951 and 1971 are unavailable on-line but census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk can provide copies of scanned images from the published reports. Volumes may be available at the British Library or in some main libraries.  

Please find in the associated downloads ‘City of London 1951’ and ‘City of London 1971’ extracts from the 1951 Census County Report for London and the 1971 Census County Report for Greater London showing population by ward for City of London (borough). 

Census data from 1961 and 1981 to 2011 can be found on the Nomis website, accessible via the following link: NOMIS webservice. Please also see the associated download named ‘Nomis navigation instructions 1981 to 2011' for assistance with the use of this service.  Nomis is a service run on behalf of ONS by the University of Durham. 

Please note, no Census 2021 ward breakdown is available for City of London (borough). The population for this area would be so small that our Statistical Disclosure Controls do not allow the publication of this information, as there is a very high risk that individuals can be identified. For this reason, the City of London (borough) is treated as a single ward for ward output purposes with the LA code appearing in place of a ward code. 

Owing to this risk, we are also unable to produce this information in response to your FOI. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it a criminal offence to disclose information held by our organisation for statistical purposes that would identify an individual or a body corporate. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individuals can be identified, Section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.

Census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk can provide further advice should you have any queries about the data or the Nomis service.