Census data

Census data provides official counts and characteristics of populations and households for areas down to small statistical units: age, sex, household size, housing, education, employment and, in some countries, income bands. Retailers, real estate firms, public bodies, healthcare planners, researchers and marketers use it for market sizing, site selection, service planning and demographic analysis.

Typical fields

• Geography code and name, from country down to small statistical areas
• Total population and households
• Age and sex distribution
• Household composition and size
• Housing tenure and dwelling type
• Education, employment and occupation
• Income bands where published
• Census year and estimate type

Sources and collection

National statistical offices run censuses, usually every five or ten years, and publish intercensal estimates and survey-based statistics in between. Some countries use administrative registers instead of a traditional census. Providers collect these releases, harmonize boundaries and variables across years and countries, and sometimes add modeled small-area estimates.

Delivery and pricing

Raw census tables are usually free. Commercial products are priced for harmonization, boundary changes, projections, joins to other geographies and delivery as files, cloud shares or APIs, typically per country or region.

Before you buy

• Check the census year and whether each figure is a count, an estimate or a projection.
• Ask how boundary changes between censuses are handled.
• Confirm geography codes and that matching boundary files are included or available.
• Understand disclosure controls such as rounding or cell suppression.
• Keep official figures separate from the provider's modeled estimates.