FOI reference: FOI-2026-3408
You asked
Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I request the following information for the most recent year 2024-25.
Population totals and demographic breakdowns
Please provide a spreadsheet (CSV or Excel) that contains the full set of population estimates for Wales, broken down by the following dimensions:
- Country of birth / usual residence
- Welsh‑born residents
- English‑born residents (i.e., born in England but residing in Wales)
- Residents born in the rest of the UK (Scotland, NI) and abroad
- Age - single‑year age groups (0, 1, 2... 90+) or standard 5‑year age bands (0‑4, 5‑9... 85+)
- Sex - Male / Female (and "Other" if the dataset includes it)
- Ethnic group - All categories used in the 2021 Census (White British, White Other, Mixed, Asian, Black, Other) plus the "Did not state" category.
- Deprivation index - Population counts by quintile of the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) if available
- Economic activity - Labour‑force status (Employed, Self‑employed, Unemployed, Economically inactive) – at least the total number of employed.
- Self‑employed persons
- Housing tenure - Owner‑occupied, Private‑rented, Social‑rented, Other – to help gauge the size of the council‑tax base
- Geography - All figures should be provided by Welsh principal area (county / council) and also as a national total for Wales.
- Each row of the spreadsheet should represent a unique combination of the above dimensions (e.g. Cardiff – Age 30 – Male – White British – Welsh‑born – Employed).
If the ONS supplies the data in a multidimensional table (e.g., separate files for age‑by‑sex, ethnicity‑by‑country‑of‑birth, etc.), that is acceptable – just make clear which file contains which breakdown.
Source‑information and methodology
For each dataset supplied in Item 1, please also provide:
The exact source name (e.g., "Mid‑Year Population Estimates (MYEs) –England and Wales, 2024" or "Annual Population Survey – 2024")
The date of publication and the reference/edition number.
A brief methodology note (how the estimates were derived, any sampling or imputation methods, and the margin of error).
Any known limitations that could affect the use of the data for tax‑revenue modelling (e.g., under‑coverage of certain groups, lag in reporting, treatment of students or seasonal workers).
We said
Thank you for your request.
We do not hold a single dataset that combines all of the characteristics you've listed for 2024 to 2025. This level of multivariable detail is not created due to methodological constraints and statistical disclosure control.
Different characteristics come from different sources, such Mid-Year Estimates (MYE), Census 2021, the Annual Population Survey (APS), and the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD), and these sources cannot be merged into a single public dataset.
However, we do hold individual datasets containing each variable, which are accessible on the ONS website.
1. Mid-Year Population Estimates (MYEs) – 2024
Provides: Total population by age, sex, local authority.
Does not include: Ethnicity, country of birth, economic activity, tenure or deprivation.
Source: Mid-year population estimates, England and Wales: 2024 (published 27 June 2024).
Link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/populationestimates2024
2. Census 2021 – Wales (most recent source for multitopic characteristics)
Key relevant tables:
All available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/census
Data refers to March 2021, not 2024 to 2025, and variables cannot be combined into a single table.
3. WIMD (Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation)
Produced by Welsh Government, not ONS.
Latest version: WIMD 2019.
ONS does not create 2024 to 2025 population counts by WIMD quintile.
4. Annual Population Survey (APS) – 2024
Provides estimates for: economic activity, employment, self-employment, country of birth, ethnicity.
Limits: Detailed breakdowns for small areas are often suppressed due to sampling error.
Link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes
Methodology and limitations (summary)
MYEs:
Based on Census 2021 baseline, updated with births, deaths and migration.
No socio-economic variables included.
Census 2021
Full population enumeration with coverage adjustment.
Data from 2021 only; detailed combinations not all available.
APS:
Survey-based estimates with weighting.
Not suitable for highly detailed or multi-way breakdowns.
If you would like support with:
help identifying which tables meet your specific analytical needs, please let us know.
Please email pop.info@ons.gov.uk for further help.