National Statistics Postcode Lookup for the UK (May 2021)

195 MB file containing the National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL) for the United Kingdom as of May 2021 in CSV and TXT formats. The NSPL relates current and terminated postcodes to statutory geographies via 'best-fit' allocation from 2011 Census Output Areas, supporting area-based statistics. It is produced by ONS Geography and issued quarterly.

Use Cases

• Produce area-based statistics from postcoded data based on the 'best-fit' allocation method described.
• Link UK postcodes to current statutory geographies for demographic or economic analysis.
• Analyze geographic distributions by mapping postcodes to 2011 Census Output Areas.
• Handle historical data analysis by working with both current and terminated postcodes.

Strengths

• File size is 195 MB, indicating a substantial dataset.
• Links postcodes to multiple current statutory geographies, providing broad geographic context.
• Includes both current and terminated postcodes, supporting temporal analysis.
• Produced by ONS Geography, the authoritative geographic support unit for UK national statistics.

Limitations

• Last updated 2021-06-02; freshness should be verified for current applications.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale projects.

Provenance

Source

ONS Geography, providing geographic support to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Collection Method

'Best-fit' allocation from the 2011 Census Output Areas, with 'exact-fit' for national parks and Workplace Zones.

Time Range

Snapshot as at May 2021.

Freshness

Issued quarterly; snapshot is from May 2021.

Geography

United Kingdom.