About us
The Office for National Statistics is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute of the UK. It is responsible for collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population and society at national, regional and local levels. It plays a leading role in national and international good practice in the production of official statistics.
The main responsibilities of the Office for National Statistics, asExecutive Office of the UK Statistics Authority and within the context of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, include:
the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of a range of economic, social and demographic statistics relating to the United Kingdom that serve the public good and meet our legal obligations (both domestic and international)
in conjunction with the National Statistician:
- providing statistical leadership and methodological advice for the benefit of UK official statistics
- undertaking various representational roles in an international context
- the development and maintenance of definitions, methodologies, and classifications of statistics
Outputs and activities
ONS is responsible for the production of a wide range of economic and social statistics, for example:
the UK’s National Accounts (such as Gross Domestic Product, National Income and Expenditure) the UK Balance of Payments population, demography and migration government output and activity business output and activity prices (such as consumer and producer) the labour market (such as employment, unemployment and earnings) vital events (such as births, marriages, morbidity and deaths) social statistics (for example statistics about neighbourhoods and families)
ONS designs, manages and runs the Census in England and Wales and also works with the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland and Scotland to carry out the decennial Census of Population.