Code History Database: UK Statistical Geography Codes from 2009

GSS nine-character codes for UK statistical geographies from 1 January 2009, including details of codes, relationships, and hierarchies. The database is provided as a zip file by the Government Digital Service and contains a snapshot as of December 2017. It is designed for use in conjunction with the Register of Geographic Codes.

Use Cases

• Mapping and linking historical UK geographic data based on the GSS code structure.
• Analyzing changes in administrative boundaries over time based on the code history functionality.
• Validating geographic identifiers in statistical outputs based on the coding and naming policy implemented from 2011.

Strengths

• Covers current and new statistical geographies from a defined start date of 1 January 2009.
• Includes multiple functionalities such as details of codes, relationships, hierarchies, and archived data.
• Follows a documented GSS Coding and Naming policy implemented on 1 January 2011.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is a snapshot from December 2017; freshness should be verified for current applications.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Official compilation of Government Statistical Service (GSS) codes.

Time Range

From 1 January 2009, snapshot as of December 2017.

Freshness

Last updated 2025-08-11 07:50:26; freshness should be verified

Geography

United Kingdom