Detailed migration statistics provide the characteristics of people or households who have moved within England and Wales or from another country into England and Wales during the year before Census 2021.

Detail of release

All 14 datasets in the series are multivariate, nine are at the person-level and five are at the household-level. For more information on the variables, classifications and geographies available for Detailed migration data, go to the Detailed migration data page on the ONS website.

The datasets linked below package all data from a 2021 Census dataset (e.g., MIG001EW) as a single zip file. Each zip file contains separate CSV files for each geographic type (OA, LSOA, MSOA etc). For each geography level there are two separate files - one for people living in the same area and inflows (people living in the same area or those who moved into the area) and one for outflows (people moving out of the area, but elsewhere within England and Wales).

National-level migration data do not have an outflow file. Census data only includes people living in England and Wales and inflows from those who have moved into England and Wales in the one-year period before Census Day.

The zip file also contains two metadata XLS files one for the inflow data (e.g., MIG001EW_IN_METADATA) and one for the outflow data (e.g., MIG001EW_OUT_METADATA).

Description of the data

Person-level migration

These datasets provide Census 2021 estimates that classify the characteristics of usual residents aged 1 year and over who have moved within England and Wales or from another country into England and Wales during the year before Census 2021.

• MIG001EW - Migration by sex and age (size: 7.3 MB)
• MIG002EW - Migration by family status (size: 4.1 MB)
• MIG003EW - Migration by ethnic group and age (size: 1.2 MB)
• MIG004EW - Migration by ethnic group and National Statistics Socioeconomic status (NS-SEC) (size: 1.8 MB)
• MIG005EW - Migration by disability (size: 1.7 MB)
• MIG006EW - Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (size: 11.6 MB)
• MIG007EW - Migration by National Statistics Socioeconomic status (NS-SEC) (size: 4.3 MB)
• MIG008EW - Migration by ethnic group (size: 58.3 MB)
• MIG014EW - Migration by age (size: 68.5 MB)

Household migration

These datasets provide Census 2021 estimates that classify the characteristics of households in an area and those who have moved within England and Wales or from another country into England and Wales during the year before Census 2021.

• MIG009EW - Household migration by household family composition (size: 6.6 MB)
• MIG010EW - Household migration by dependent children and age of Household Reference Person (HRP) (size: 434 KB)
• MIG011EW - Household migration by tenure (size: 2.3 MB)
• MIG012EW - Household migration by economic activity of Household Reference Person (HRP) (size: 4.5 MB)
• MIG013EW - Household migration by National Statistics Socioeconomic status (NS-SEC) of Household Reference Person (HRP) (size: 4.6 MB)

Methodology

For more information on how the Detailed migration datasets have changed for 2021, compared to 2011 see the Detailed migration data page on the ONS website and the Demography variables page on the Census 2021 dictionary.

Definitions

Census 2021 statistics are published from information collected about people and their households. We group data together based on who the information is about, for example individuals or households. Further information on measurements used in Census 2021 data can be found in the Census dictionary

Household

A household is defined as:

• one person living alone, or
• a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room or dining area

This includes:

• all sheltered accommodation units in an establishment (irrespective of whether there are other communal facilities), and
• all people living in caravans on any type of site that is their usual residence; this will include anyone who has no other usual residence elsewhere in the UK

A household must contain at least one person whose place of usual residence is at the address. A group of short-term residents living together is not classified as a household, and neither is a group of people at an address where only visitors are staying.

Usual resident

A usual resident is anyone who on Census Day, 21 March 2021, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

Household Migration (inflows)

Identifies usually resident households in England and Wales living in the same area and those who moved into the area in the one-year period before the census. ''Area'' defines the geographical level being shown in the table. ''Associated area'' refers to the next highest level of geography up the hierarchy. This does not count all households who moved out of an area as it does not include households who moved outside England and Wales.

Household Migration (outflows)

Identifies usually resident households moving out of the area but within the ''associated area'' and those who have moved out of the ''associated area'' but within England and Wales, in the one-year period before the census.

Migration (inflows)

Identifies usual residents in England and Wales living in the same area and those who moved into the area in the one-year period before the census.

Migration (outflows)

Identifies usual residents who moved out of the area but within the ''associated area'' and those who have moved out of the ''associated area'' but within England and Wales, in the one-year period before the census.

Protecting personal data

Sometimes we need to make changes to data if it is possible to identify individuals. This is known as statistical disclosure control. In Census 2021, we:

• Swapped records (targeted record swapping), for example, if a household was likely to be identified in datasets because it has unusual characteristics, we swapped the record with a similar one from a nearby small area (very unusual households could be swapped with one in a nearby local authority)
• Added small changes to some counts (cell key perturbation), for example, we might change a count of four to a three or a five - this might make small differences between tables depending on how the data are broken down when we applied perturbation.

Read more in Section 5 of our article Design for Census 2021.

More information

Groups not included in this set can be requested as similar outputs through the commissioned table service, for a charge. The creation of ad hoc tables is constrained by the data, by the availability of skilled staff to compile them, by any similarities to what the ONS has already released or plans to release, and the need to protect confidentiality of individuals. More information is available on the ONS website.

More information on results from Census 2021 is available on the Office for National Statistics website.

If you have any questions about Census 2021 Detailed Migration products, contact:

Census Customer Services
ONS
Titchfield
Fareham
Hants
PO15 5RR

Telephone: +44 (0)1329 444972
E-mail: census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk