FOI reference: FOI-2025-3221
You asked
Since our nation had our 2021 Census a few years ago that I took part in, I just wanted to ask if you could similarly provide me with the general demographic makeup of the employees working at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as of the latest available year data. In particular, just like the whole UK govt. data, I am looking for the population numbers of 2025 (or the latest available year) such as:
1) Racial groups as the UK govt. classifies:
White - British
White - Irish
Asian - Indian
Asian - Pakistani
Asian - Bangladeshi
Asian - Chinese
...and the other non-national ethnic groups (like Africans, Arabs, other Asian, other White, Caribbean, Mixed race, etc.)
2) Religious identities, in particular the number of:
Christians
Muslims
Hindus
Sikhs
Buddhists
Jews
...non-religious & other religion populations.
3) What % percentage of staff have British citizenship?
4) The percentage share of genders
5) the most-common Languages spoken by the employees (other than English), such as:
Polish
Romanian
Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ)
Urdu (اُرْدُوِ)
Portuguese
Spanish
Arabic (اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ)
Bengali (বাংলা)
Gujarati (ગુજરાતી)
Italian
...and all the other most-spoken languages.
6) What percentage of staff live in Greater London (i.e. the 32 London Boroughs & the City of London) & from outside London?
7) What % percentage of staff have GCSE, A-Level & Degree-level qualifications?
It will be helpful if I can be able to get an idea of the general demographic data of the ONS as a whole for its staff for the latest available year. Of course, I don't intend to ask for any personal details of anyone specifically in particular at all but rather get an overall picture of the ONS's population through percentages or numbers (as suitable), so it will be helpful if you can help me find out. Even if all of these categories aren't known or available, I would appreciate as many of them as you're able to help me out with.
We said
Thank you for your request submitted under the Freedom of Information Act.
Some of the information you have asked for is available as published Civil Service statistics on the GOV.UK website. This can be accessed from the statistical bulletin and statistical tables.
Specifically:
Ethnicity
Data presented against higher level groupings is available, as at 31 March 2025, via the above link. Data against lower level groupings has been provided through the attached auxiliary spreadsheet, noting that:
- Some categories have been merged (where numbers are low) to avoid the disclosure of personal data. The original low figures are exempt for disclosure under s.40(2) of FOIA.
Religion
The data you have requested is available, as at 31 March 2025, via the above link.
British Citizenship
We do not hold comprehensive data on the citizenship of all our colleagues, and therefore cannot respond to this point. All our colleagues have undergone all the necessary checks to ensure they have the appropriate right to work, but up until July 2021 that data was held in individual, un-interrogatable personnel files. From July 2021, the citizenship of our new entrants has been recorded on our corporate HR system. Because we only hold interrogatable data on this small and very specific population, we cannot identify how many colleagues are British citizens and therefore cannot answer the question presented.
Gender
Data on the gender split of our colleagues, as at 31 March 2025, is available via the above link. From that data, percentages can be calculated.
Languages
We do not hold centralised information on the languages spoken by our colleagues, and therefore cannot respond to this point.
London
Data on the geographical split of our colleagues, as at 31 March 2025, is available via the above link - with London specifically drawn out. Please note however that this data is based on contractual location not on place of residence.
Qualifications
We do not hold centralised information on the qualifications held by our colleagues, and therefore cannot respond to this point.