The Office for National Statistics (ONS) website is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of users. This includes the regular release of statistical publications, datasets, time series and searchable datasets.
This fair use policy sets out how we will maintain the integrity of our service for everyone and ensure that as many people as possible can benefit from it.
As a public organisation, the ONS provides a public service to our users. We have a duty to ensure fair and equal access to our site and its content for everyone. Users can download our content for their own use, provided they do so fairly.
We reserve the right to restrict or block access for anyone who impacts the use of and access to our service for others, for example, through web scraping large volumes of data.
Using a bot, crawler or scraper
If you are using a bot, crawler or scraper to download our content, you must adhere to our technical guidance. This includes setting an appropriate user agent header that clearly identifies you and provides a contact. Any details provided are stored in line with our data protection policy.
If we have any concerns with the behaviour of your bot, crawler or scraper, we may contact you directly to resolve the matter.
If a user agent is not provided, we reserve the right to block your access without notice.
Read more in our Guide to rate limiting and bot development.
If you experience any issues with accessing the site and its content, email sharedcustomercontactcentre@ons.gov.uk.
We reserve the right to change the details outlined in this policy at any time and without prior notice. Read more about our terms and conditions.