Compare age-sex estimates from Census 2021 to areas within England and Wales

The Census 2021 local authority comparison tool is an Excel spreadsheet. It replicates the age-sex charts from the quality assurance (QA) assessment of each local authority (LA) in England and Wales.

An important part of the Census 2021 Quality Assurance process was the assessment of age-sex distributions in census population estimates. At the Office for National Statistics (ONS), we assessed these age-sex breakdowns against those created using administrative data sources and mid-year population estimates.

The tool also contains charts and information at the county and national levels. This means that you can compare data across England and Wales by:

• LA
• region
• county
• country

For each LA, the tool also gives:

• estimates of households occupied by usual residents
• response rates by age and sex
• the components of the estimation and adjustment process

Rounded data

The data in the tool are the same as rounded population estimates published in our First results from the 2021 Census of England and Wales bulletin. This means all data in the tool are rounded to the nearest hundred. Please be aware that some table totals may not add up to expected values because of this rounding.

This tool includes data from other sources, which we used to quality assure census estimates. These data were subject to statistical disclosure control processes as agreed with data suppliers.

We also processed the data from other sources before using them in the QA process to ensure they were as consistent as possible with the census definitions.

You can use the tool to access information from the age-sex charts for any local authority in England and Wales. You can also use it to print individual PDF reports for specific local authorities.

To find data for a local authority (LA), you must first choose an LA using a drop-down selection menu in the first tab of the tool.

Software you need

We have developed the tool to use functionality that Microsoft Excel 2016 and later versions provide. The tool may also work in other open source or free Excel alternatives.