UK data and statistics: 404 questions answered

Straight answers to the questions people most often ask about finding, requesting and checking UK official figures. Each answer names the official body that publishes the figure and links to it, so you can check the latest number yourself.

Guides to the main official sources

Higher education and student finance statistics (HESA, Student Loans Company, Office for Students and DfE)
Official figures on UK student numbers, international students, student loan debt, graduate earnings, university finances and apprenticeships.
UK tax rates, allowances and taxpayer statistics (GOV.UK, HMRC, OBR, Revenue Scotland and Welsh Revenue Authority)
Where to check official UK income tax bands, National Insurance, VAT, stamp duty, inheritance tax and taxpayer numbers, and how to test tax claims.
UK labour market statistics (ONS, Nomis and the gender pay gap reporting service)
How to find official UK figures on jobs, vacancies, zero-hours contracts, strikes, public sector jobs, sickness, inactivity and pay gaps, and check claims.
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and Northern Ireland departmental statistics
A guide to NISRA and Northern Ireland official statistics: population, census, NICEI, jobs, waiting times, PSNI crime and house prices.
UK population and vital statistics (ONS, National Records of Scotland and NISRA)
Where to find official UK figures on births, fertility, baby names, marriage, divorce, households, population estimates, projections and the census.
Scottish official statistics: Scottish Government, National Records of Scotland, Public Health Scotland and others
Where to find official Scottish figures: GERS, Scottish GDP, NRS population and deaths, PHS waiting times, exam results and SFC forecasts.
Social care, childcare and children's social care statistics (DHSC, NHS England, Skills for Care, DfE, ONS and devolved bodies)
Where to find official figures on care homes, social care staff, delayed discharge, unpaid carers, free childcare, childcare costs and children in care.
UK trade statistics (ONS, HMRC uktradeinfo and Department for Business and Trade)
Where to find official UK trade figures: the ONS trade bulletin and balance of payments, HMRC uktradeinfo by product code, and DBT country factsheets.
Welsh official statistics: Welsh Government, StatsWales, Welsh Revenue Authority and Senedd Research
How to find official Welsh figures: StatsWales, NHS Wales performance, 20mph and road data, Welsh language, exam results, council tax, LTT and budgets.
Bank of England Statistical Interactive Database
Use the Bank of England database to check Bank Rate history, mortgage and savings rates, mortgage approvals and M4, with series codes and CSV links.
Find Case Law, legislation.gov.uk, the Sentencing Council and UK court records
How to search UK court judgments on Find Case Law, check if a law is in force on legislation.gov.uk, and read sentencing, tribunal and CPS data.
UK deaths, life expectancy and public health statistics (ONS, OHID, UKHSA, NRS, NISRA)
Where to find official UK figures on deaths, excess deaths, life expectancy, causes of death, suicide, drug and alcohol deaths and vaccination.
Defence, foreign aid and counter-terrorism statistics (MOD, FCDO, NATO, OECD, Home Office)
Where to find official UK defence spending, armed forces numbers, NATO comparisons, foreign aid (ODA), arms export licences and terrorism statistics.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics and Stat-Xplore
Where to find DWP figures on Universal Credit, PIP, State Pension and Pension Credit, how to build a Stat-Xplore table and use the free Open Data API.
The Electoral Commission
How to search Electoral Commission records of party donations, loans, spending and accounts, current reporting thresholds, and official election data.
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) energy and emissions statistics, and Ofgem energy price cap data
Where to find official UK energy prices, fuel prices, electricity generation, greenhouse gas emissions and the Ofgem price cap, and how to check claims.
Environment Agency, Ofwat, Defra and Met Office environmental data
Where to find Environment Agency sewage spill and water quality data, flood APIs, Ofwat performance, Defra air quality and Met Office climate records.
Explore education statistics (Department for Education)
How to use DfE's Explore Education Statistics for pupil numbers, free school meals, teachers, GCSE and SATs results, exclusions, attendance and the API.
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data and the UK House Price Index
How to use HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, the UK House Price Index and ONS private rent statistics to check claims about house prices and rents.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) official statistics
Find HMRC monthly tax receipts and NICs, annual receipts, income tax liabilities, the tax gap, personal incomes and UK trade data, and how to read them.
Home Office statistics (immigration, borders and policing)
Find Home Office figures on small boat arrivals, asylum, hotels, visas, returns, detention, police numbers and stop and search, and how to read them.
International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and World Bank data
How to check UK versus other countries claims with IMF, OECD and World Bank data: which database to use, PPP versus exchange rates, and data vintages.
Local government finance statistics (MHCLG, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
Where to find official council spending, council tax, finance settlement, debt and audit data for England, plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
MHCLG housing and homelessness statistics (with MoJ possessions and devolved equivalents)
Official figures on temporary accommodation, rough sleeping, waiting lists, social lettings, evictions and tenure in England and the rest of the UK.
Ministry of Justice statistics, police.uk and data.police.uk
Find official prison population, Crown Court caseload, reoffending and legal aid figures, plus street-level crime from data.police.uk, and how to use them.
NHS England statistics and NHS England Digital (formerly NHS Digital)
Where to find official NHS England figures on RTT waiting lists, A&E four-hour waits, cancer and ambulance times, diagnostics, GP numbers and appointments.
NHS statistics for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Public Health Scotland, Welsh Government and Department of Health Northern Ireland)
Where to find official NHS waiting times, A&E and workforce figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and why UK-wide comparisons need care.
Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)
Where to find OBR forecasts, policy costings, the public finances databank and 300 years of fiscal data, and how to test tax and spending pledges.
UK poverty and household income statistics (DWP, ONS, DESNZ, Low Pay Commission and devolved governments)
Where to find official UK poverty, household income, inequality, minimum wage and fuel poverty figures, and how to check claims about them.
Department for Transport statistics and Office of Rail and Road official rail statistics
How to find and use official DfT data on road traffic, casualties, vehicles and buses, and ORR rail data on journeys, punctuality and stations.
UK Parliament records: Hansard, votes, questions, interests and bills
How to search Hansard, Commons and Lords votes, written questions, MPs' interests, IPSA expenses, bills and committee evidence, plus free APIs.
UK Statistics Authority and Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR)
Find UK Statistics Authority and OSR letters on how politicians and officials used statistics, search the casework log, and raise a concern yourself.

Questions were chosen from 18,276 distinct Google autocomplete suggestions for UK searches, collected on 13 October 2026 from seed phrases on each topic. Ranks are estimates based on how often each question's wording appeared in those suggestions; Google does not publish search volumes. Answers were written from the official sources linked, and every link was checked on 13 October 2026.