ONS Postcode Directory: UK Postcode to Administrative Geography Linkage (August 2017)

221 MB of data linking UK postcodes to administrative, electoral, and health geographies as of August 2017. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Geography produces this directory quarterly to support area-based statistics from postcoded data. It includes both current and terminated postcodes, with links to Census Output Areas and other historical geographic units.

Use Cases

• Generate area-based statistics based on postcode linkages to administrative geographies.
• Map historical data based on links to pre-2002 health areas and 1991/2001 Census units.
• Geocode UK addresses or customer records using the postcode directory for spatial analysis.
• Analyze changes in geographic boundaries by comparing current and terminated postcode records.

Strengths

• Links postcodes to a wide range of current statutory geographies, including administrative, electoral, and health areas.
• Includes historical linkages to pre-2002 health areas and 1991/2001 Census geographies for England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
• Contains both current and terminated UK postcodes, supporting longitudinal analysis.
• File size is 221 MB, suggesting a substantial dataset.

Limitations

• Data is from August 2017; more recent quarterly releases may be needed for current analysis.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific tasks.

Provenance

Source

Office for National Statistics (ONS) Geography, provided by the Government Digital Service.

Collection Method

Produced by ONS Geography as an official statistical directory.

Time Range

Snapshot as of August 2017.

Freshness

Issued quarterly; this snapshot is from August 2017. Metadata was last updated on 2025-08-11.

Geography

United Kingdom.