The census in the United Kingdom is decennial, that is, held every ten years, although there is provision in the

Census Act 1920 The Census Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 41) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Providing for a census for Great Britain (or any subsidiary part of it), on a date to be fixed by Order in Council, it remains the primary legislation ...

for a census to take place at intervals of five years or more. There are actually three separate censuses in the United Kingdom - in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, although they are often coordinated. From 1821 to 1911, the census included the whole of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. There have only been three occasions in Great Britain where the census has not been decennial: There was no census in 1941 due to the Second World War; a mini-census using a ten percent sample of the population was conducted on 24 April 1966; and the planned Scottish 2021 census was delayed to 2022 due to the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. No census was held in Ireland in 1921, as a consequence of the Irish War of Independence; instead, Northern Ireland carried out a census in 1926, the first there for fifteen years.https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra.gov.uk/files/publications/1926-census-preliminary-report.PDF No census was carried out in Northern Ireland in 1931, but one was carried out in 1937.https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra.gov.uk/files/publications/1937-census-preliminary-report.PDF

Previous censuses

Published censuses

The census records which have been published relate to the occupants of each household on the date given below: * United Kingdom Census 1801 - Tuesday, 10 March *

United Kingdom Census 1811 United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

- Monday, 27 May *

United Kingdom Census 1821 United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

- Monday, 28 May *

United Kingdom Census 1831 United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

- Monday, 30 May *

United Kingdom Census 1841 The United Kingdom Census of 1841 recorded the occupants of every United Kingdom household on the night of Sunday 6 June 1841. The enactment of the Population Act 1840 meant a new procedure was adopted for taking the 1841 census. It was described a ...

- Sunday, 6 June *

United Kingdom Census 1851 The United Kingdom Census of 1851 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of Sunday 30 March 1851, and was the second of the UK censuses to include details of household members. However, this census added considerably to the f ...

- Sunday, 30 March *

United Kingdom Census 1861 The United Kingdom Census of 1861 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of 7 April 1861, and was the third of the UK censuses to include details of household members. The census was taken and recorded everyone living in a ho ...

- Sunday, 7 April *

United Kingdom Census 1871 The United Kingdom Census 1871 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland carried out on Sunday 2 April 1871. It added the categories of "lunatic" and "imbecile" to those recorded as infirm. The total population of England, ...

- Sunday, 2 April *

United Kingdom Census 1881 The United Kingdom Census of 1881 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of Sunday 3 April 1881, and was the fifth of the UK censuses to include details of household members. Data recorded Details collected include: address, ...

- Sunday, 3 April *

United Kingdom Census 1891 The United Kingdom Census 1891 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland carried out on Sunday 5 April 1891. A question was added to record the number of rooms in a household, in response to concerns about overcrowding in ci ...

- Sunday, 5 April *

United Kingdom Census 1901 The United Kingdom Census 1901 was the 11th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and was done on 31st March 1901 "relating to the persons returned as living at midnight on Sunday, March 31st". The total p ...

- Sunday, 31 March *

United Kingdom Census 1911 The United Kingdom Census 1911 of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England ...

- Sunday, 2 April *

United Kingdom Census 1921 The United Kingdom Census 1921 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that was carried out on 19 June 1921. It was postponed for two months from April due to industrial unrest and no census was taken in Ireland due to th ...

- Sunday, 19 June *

National Registration Act 1939 The National Registration Act 1939 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The initial National Registration Bill was introduced to Parliament as an emergency measure at the start of the Second World War. The Act provided for the estab ...

- Friday, 29 September

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Unpublished censuses

Under the 100-year closure rule established after the 1911 census was taken, information in later censuses will not be released until the dates stated. *

Northern Ireland Census 1926 Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

- Sunday, 18 April: The census returns were not transferred to the Public Record Office in Northern Ireland, and are believed to have been destroyed without authorisation, possibly as part of a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

waste-paper campaign. *

United Kingdom Census 1931 The United Kingdom Census 1931 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland that was carried out on 26 April 1931. A census in Northern Ireland had been taken in April 1926, so no census was taken there in 1931. The qu ...

- Sunday, 26 April: carried out in England, Wales, and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland. The England and Wales census returns were destroyed in an accidental fire in 1942; the Scottish census returns were stored in Edinburgh, and survived. The scheduled publication date for the Scottish returns is 1 January 2032 *

Northern Ireland Census 1937 Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

- Sunday, 28 February: Unlike the 1926 Northern Ireland census, the 1937 census records survive. (scheduled publication date 1 January 2038) *~~United Kingdom Census 1941~~ - no census taken due to World War II. *

United Kingdom Census 1951 The United Kingdom Census 1951 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland carried out on 8 April 1951. It was the first to ask about household amenities and the largest so far attempted in the country. There was no ...

- Sunday, 8 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2052) *

United Kingdom Census 1961 The United Kingdom Census 1961 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland carried out on 23 April 1961. It was the first to ask about qualifications, migration status, and household tenure. It was also the first to u ...

- Sunday, 23 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2062) *

United Kingdom Census 1966 The United Kingdom Census 1966 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland carried out on 24 April 1966. It was the first to ask about car ownership and method of travel to work. It trialled an alternative method of e ...

- Sunday, 24 April mini-census using a ten percent sample (publication date 1 January 2067) *

United Kingdom Census 1971 The United Kingdom Census 1971 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland carried out on 25 April 1971. The census will be released after 100 years. According to the preliminary general results of the census, the po ...

- Sunday, 25 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2072) *

United Kingdom Census 1981 The United Kingdom Census 1981 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland carried out on 5 April 1981. The census will be released in 2081 or 2082 after 100 years.United Kingdom Census 1991 A nationwide census, commonly known as Census 1991, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 21 April 1991. This was the 19th UK census. ''Census 1991'' was organised by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in England and Wales, t ...

- Sunday, 21 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2092) *

United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

- Sunday, 29 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2102) *

United Kingdom Census 2011 A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...

- Sunday, 27 March (scheduled publication date 1 January 2112) *

United Kingdom Census 2021 The decennial 2021 censuses of England and Wales and of Northern Ireland took place on 21 March 2021, and the census of Scotland took place on 20 March 2022. The censuses were administered by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in England an ...

- carried out in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland only on Sunday, 21 March (scheduled publication date 1 January 2122). It will be carried out in Scotland on 20 March 2022. (scheduled publication date 1 January 2123)

References

Notes

{{Census in the United Kingdom Censuses Censuses

Previous censuses

Published censuses

Unpublished censuses

See also

References

Notes