Flow Data Information System

1991 Census: Special Migration Statistics (Set 1)

Contains migration flows within and between wards (in England and Wales) and postcode sectors (in Scotland). The entire data set is extremely large because there are 9,930 wards, 1,003 postal sectors and an additional 97 foreign origins, giving a matrix of 11,030 origins and 10,933 destinations, although the majority of the cells (interaction flows) at this spatial scale are zero.

Users can choose from 10 counts of migrants by age and sex (Table 1) and 2 counts of wholly moving households (Table 2).

All the 1991 SMS data have been derived from the 100% sample and include imputed households. However, OPCS suppressed migrant data in the SMS Set 2 in order to ensure confidentiality. Consequently, the imposition of suppression thresholds means that many smaller flows are not available. Phil Rees and Oliver Duke-Williams have estimated data for suppressed flows in Tables 3-10 and users wishing to use this data should select the SMSGAPS data set.

References

Flowerdew, R. and Green, A. (1993) Migration, transport and workplace statistics from the 1991 Census, in Dale, A. and Marsh, C. (eds) The 1991 Census User's Guide, HMSO, London: 269-94.

Rees, P.H. and Duke-Williams, O. (1995) The story of the British Special Migration Statistics, Scottish Geographical Magazine, 11: 13-26.

Rees, P.H. and Duke-Williams, O. (1997) Methods for estimating missing data on migrants in the 1991 British Census, International Journal of Population Geography, 3: 323-368.

Citation information

The following statements should be attached to all output produced using this data set

Data from this set should be cited in a bibliography as:

Office for National Statistics, 1991 Census: Special Migration Statistics (Set 1) [computer file], UK Data Service

Further information

The following pre-defined totals are available from this data set:

There are 2 tables defined for this data set:

The data are available for the following geographies:

Geographies of origin areasGeographies of destination areas
Supported directly
[i]CIDS 1991/2001 common geography - 'city regions'
[i]GB Counties 1991
[i]CIDS 1991/2001 common geography - '100 zones'
[i]1991SMS Misc. origin totals
[i]GB Wards 1991
[i]GB Districts 1991
[i]CIDS 1991/2001 common geography - 'intermediate'
[i]1991SMS Foreign origins
[i]GB Standard Regions 1991
[i]CIDS 1991/2001 common geography - 'districts'
[i]1991SMS Counties
[i]CIDS 1991/2001 common geography - 'city regions'
[i]GB Counties 1991
[i]CIDS 1991/2001 common geography - '100 zones'
[i]GB Wards 1991
[i]GB Districts 1991
[i]CIDS 1991/2001 common geography - 'intermediate'
[i]GB Standard Regions 1991
[i]CIDS 1991/2001 common geography - 'districts'
[i]1991SMS Counties
[i]1991SMS Misc. destination totals
Supported via aggregation
[i]GB Countries 1991
[i]GB Parliamentary Constituencies 1997
[i]GB 1997 General Election - Results
[i]GB 1997 General Election - Swing
[i]Foreign origins - broad groups
[i]GB Standard Region Urban / Rural components
[i]DETR 99 zone system
[i]Great Britain
[i]GB Countries 1991
[i]GB Parliamentary Constituencies 1997
[i]GB 1997 General Election - Results
[i]GB 1997 General Election - Swing
[i]GB Standard Region Urban / Rural components
[i]DETR 99 zone system
[i]Great Britain

Output for geographies that are only supported via aggregation will take longer than for those supported directly

Table frameworks


Table 1: All migrants: age (5 broad age groups) by sex
Male Female
1-15 1 2
16-29 3 4
30-44 5 6
44-Pens. age 7 8
Pens. age+ 9 10

Table 2: Wholly Moving Households and residents in Wholly Moving Households: counts
Wholly Moving Households Residents in Wholly Moving Households
Count 1 2