High streets and retail areas: March 2026

Summary

Interactive analysis of retail areas, covering employment and the characteristics of people living on and around high streets between 2011 and 2024. This research links ONS and other data sources to retail areas geographies, as defined by Ordnance Survey. These are official statistics in development.

Publications

• High streets and retail areas in Great Britain: March 2026

  Interactive analysis of retail areas, covering employment between 2015 and 2024 and the characteristics of people living on and around high streets between 2011 and 2021 (2022 in Scotland). These are official statistics in development.

Data

• Age structure of high street populations in Great Britain

  Data on the resident population, split by broad age groups, of high streets in Great Britain, its constituent countries and regions, local authority districts, and Ordnance Survey retail area hierarchies, using census data.

• Land use on the high street in Great Britain

  Data on the use of buildings on high streets in Great Britain and its constituent countries and regions, using the classification of physical addresses by Ordnance Survey.

• Occupation of people living on the high street in Great Britain

  Data on the occupations of high street residents in Great Britain and the different retail area hierarchies defined by Ordnance Survey, using census data.

• Employment on the high street in Great Britain

  Data on relative employment on high streets in Great Britain, its constituent countries and regions, and Ordnance Survey retail area hierarchies, using Business Register and Employment Survey data.

• Population living on or around high streets in Great Britain

  Data on the resident population of high streets in Great Britain, its constituent countries and regions, local authority districts and the different retail area hierarchies defined by Ordnance Survey, using census data.

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