FOI reference: FOI-2026-3673
You asked
A blog published today opens with the line: "Population estimates are widely used and ..... inform important government decisions and policies at national and local levels".
Please send me the full list of uses that the ONS has for these data and upon which that statement is based.
The blog also says that the figures ONS produces "...... remain the best available official estimates of the population". Please send me a list of all other less good official estimates of national and local population against which the ONS figures are judged to be "the best".
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.
We use mid-year population estimates in the production of numerous statistics for which we are responsible. The annex lists the major statistics and statistical production activities that make use of the mid-year population estimates.
Note that additional uses of population estimates can be made, on an ad-hoc basis, which may not necessarily be included in this list. Our statistical outputs are developed and guided by known user needs, and we conduct a wide range of engagement activities across local and national government, academia and wider interest groups to ensure our estimates can inform their decisions. These statistics in turn inform wider decisions and policies. For example, the population estimates are used to produce the population projections and used in the calculation of labour market statistics, which are used to inform service delivery and infrastructure planning, and economic and fiscal policy, respectively.
We are responsible for producing and developing official estimates of the population of England and Wales, and for producing estimates of the UK population using estimates for Northern Ireland and Scotland. The mid-year population estimates we produce are the only population estimates which are accredited official statistics.
These estimates remain the best available official estimates of the population, reflecting the decision to continue publishing the accredited mid-year population estimates as the official estimates of population.
Prior to March 2026 we had been developing the ABPEs – which were published as official statistics in development – at the same time as continuing to publish estimates using the current (cohort component) method, which are accredited official statistics. We had previously said we were aiming for the ABPEs to become the official estimates of the population in 2026. As discussed in our Assessment of criteria for moving to admin-based population estimates as official estimates of population, England and Wales: 2026 article, this is no longer our aim.
The assessment contains more detailed information about why the ABPEs are not considered ready. Instead, we will make iterative improvements to the data and methods that underpin the components of population change, with a focus on internal migration and disaggregation of long-term international migration (LTIM) estimates to local-authority level. In addition, other types of population estimate we produce, and their uses, are described in our Population Statistics and Sources Guide.
If you have any further questions on this, please email pop.info@ons.gov.uk.
Our uses of mid-year population estimates
Product:
Population estimates by marital status and living arrangements, England and Wales: 2024
Estimates of the very old
Population estimates by output areas, electoral, health and other geographies
National population projections
Subnational population projections for England
Household population projections for England
Fertility rates
Mortality rates
National life tables – life expectancy in the UK: 2022 to 2024; Healthy life expectancy, UK: between 2011 to 2013 and 2022 to 2024
Labour Force Survey weighting (and TLFS)
Opinions Survey weighting
Real Time Indicators (RTI) (denominator for employment rates)
Family Resources Survey weighting
Wealth and Assets Survey weighting
Living Costs and Food Survey weighting
Household Finances Survey weighting
Gross domestic product (GDP) per head
Gross value added (GVA) per head
Crime Survey weighting
Understanding towns in England and Wales, investigating socioeconomic trends: May 2026
Past and projected period and cohort life tables: 2024-based, UK, 1981 to 2074