Output Area Boundaries for England and Wales, December 2011

Office for National Statistics provides digital vector boundaries for Output Areas in England and Wales as of 31 December 2011. The dataset contains three boundary versions: full resolution (extent of the realm and clipped to coastline) and a generalised (20m) version clipped to the coastline. File sizes range from 46 MB for the generalised version to 666 MB for the full-resolution extent.

Use Cases

• Mapping census data based on the provided Output Area boundaries.
• Performing spatial joins based on the generalised (20m) or full-resolution clipped boundaries.
• Conducting coastal analysis based on boundaries clipped to the Mean High Water mark.
• Visualising administrative geography for England and Wales based on the 2011 boundaries.

Strengths

• Provides three specific boundary versions with stated file sizes (e.g., 46 MB for generalised).
• Contains boundaries for a specific, documented date (31 December 2011).
• Includes direct REST service URLs for programmatic access and download.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is from 2011; freshness should be verified for current applications.

Provenance

Source

Office for National Statistics

Collection Method

Official census boundary production.

Time Range

As at 31 December 2011

Freshness

Last updated 2026 07 08 13:33:18.430407; freshness should be verified

Geography

England and Wales