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The Office for National Statistics has launched a public consultation to help shape Census 2031 in England and Wales.

For more than two centuries, a decennial census has provided information about the population and housing, helping to inform decisions about public services and to better understand the economy, public health and inequality.

Over time, it has evolved to reflect how we live and to respond to social and technological changes.

While many of the core topics on age, education and occupations have remained consistent over time, new topics have been added including, in 1991, ethnicity, and in 2021 a question asking people if they had previously served in the UK armed forces was asked for the first time.

This 14-week consultation will help inform which topics are most important for inclusion in the next census to ensure it provides the most valuable outputs for informing policy decisions and meeting wider user needs.

Darren Tierney, Permanent Secretary at the Office for National Statistics, yesterday said:

“My ambition is for Census 2031 to build on the success of Census 2021. It will take a digital-first and inclusive approach, making best use of administrative data to support data collection and quality, and we will work closely with colleagues within the devolved governments to produce coherent outputs.  

“As with all our statistics, the needs of our users continue to be at the heart of our decision-making on the census.

“By responding to this consultation, you will play a key role in informing which topics are included, ensuring that Census 2031 provides the most valuable outputs for informing pivotal policy decisions.”

Following this consultation, the ONS will continue to engage with users to support the development of questions and the questionnaire design for the census. It will also continue to work closely with Welsh Government on the delivery of the census in Wales.

As in the past, it is proposed that there will be separate censuses in Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2031. The ONS is working with the National Records of Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) to align approaches towards future census planning. 

Alongside the Census 2031 topic consultation, the Government Statistical Service is running a separate consultation to gather views on additional tick-box response options which may be required for a new harmonised standard for collecting data on ethnicity. The ONS expects the relevant census question to align to this standard in England and Wales.

Both consultations will close on February 4, 2026.

More information on the Census 2031 topic consultation can be found here.

The Ethnicity Harmonised Standard consultation can be found here.