English indices of deprivation 2025: frequently asked questions
Updated 17 November 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2025/english-indices-of-deprivation-2025-frequently-asked-questions
Introduction to the Indices of Deprivation
1. What are the Indices of Deprivation (IoD, or Indices)?
The Indices of Deprivation measure multiple dimensions of neighbourhood deprivation at a small area level across England.
2. How is deprivation defined within the IoD?
Within the IoD, deprivation refers to people’s unmet needs, a lack of access to opportunities and resources which we might expect in our society.
People can be considered to be in poverty if they lack the financial resources to meet their needs, whereas people can be regarded as deprived due to a lack of resources of all kinds, not just income.
The conceptual framework for the Indices follows Peter Townsend’s work from 1979 onwards, defining deprivation in a broad sense to encompass a wide range of aspects of an individual’s living conditions, relative to those society expects. These social expectations may change over time, but relative deprivation remains. Section 2 of our technical report provides more detail.
3. What are the multiple dimensions of deprivation within the IoD?
The Indices of Deprivation (IoD) measure multiple dimensions of deprivation across 7 individual domains, one combined Index of Multiple Deprivation measure (the IMD), and 2 supplementary indexes, making 10 indices in total.
Deprivation is measured in a broad way to encompass a wide range of aspects of an individual’s living conditions. Each of the domains above are constructed from a basket of different data datasets, or indicators. As far as is possible, each indicator is based on data from the most recent time point available.
Deprivation measures have been produced by this department and its predecessors in similar way since 2000. The IoD25 is the most recent release. The 7 individual domains of deprivation include:
- Income Deprivation (22.5%)
- Employment Deprivation (22.5%)
- Education, Skills and Training Deprivation (13.5%)
- Health Deprivation and Disability (13.5%)
- Crime (9.3%)
- Barriers to Housing and Services (9.3%)
- Living Environment Deprivation (9.3%)
All 7 combine (weighted as indicated) to create the IMD, the official measure of deprivation in England.
In addition to the seven domain-level indices above, there are 2 supplementary indices: the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) and the Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI). These are created as subsets from the Income Deprivation domain.
4. What is the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)?
The Index of Multiple Deprivation, commonly known as the IMD, is the official measure of relative deprivation for small areas in England. It is the most widely used of the Indices of Deprivation (IoD).
The IMD combines the individual seven domains to produce an overall relative measure of deprivation. The domains are combined using the weights indicated at Q3.
Weights have been derived from consideration of academic literature on poverty and deprivation, as well as the levels of robustness of the indicators. As part of the development work for the IoD25, and in line with recommendations from our user consultation Indices Futures user consultation, domain weights were also assessed and reviewed. A fuller account alongside detail of reviews linked to previous iterations is given in section 3.7 and Appendix F of the technical report.
All of these documents are available from English indices of deprivation 2025.
5. What do you mean by ‘small area level’?
The IoD suite of resources rank every small area in England from 1 (most deprived area) to 33,755 (least deprived area) across each domain, the combined IMD measure and both supplementary indices.
These small areas are a statistical geography called Lower-layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs). LSOAs are a standard statistical geography designed to be of a similar population size, with an average of approximately 1,500 residents or 650 households. There are 33,755 LSOAs in England. LSOAs are produced by the Office for National Statistics for the reporting of small area statistics and are a standard way of evenly dividing up the country by population. They are updated with each Census, so every 10 years. For ease of communication, within the IoD25, and previous releases, LSOAs are referred to as small areas or neighbourhoods.
LSOAs do not have descriptive place names (in the way that other small area geographies do) but they are named in a format beginning with the name of the Local Authority District followed by a 4-character code e.g. City of London 001A.
You can find out more about LSOAs on the Office for National Statistics website:
Accessing data, documents and tools
6. What data and documents have been published? Where do I start?
Data: The IoD2025 is the most recent indices of deprivation release. Nine data files are available at neighbourhood (LSOA) level. The first of these contains the IMD25 ranks and deciles and is sufficient for the purposes of most users. Other files are available for users with more specific requirements.
A range of summary measures are available at higher-level geographies: Local Authority Districts (LAD) and Upper-tier Local Authorities (UTLA), Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Local Resilience Forums (LEPs), Built Up Areas (BUA) and Integrated Care Borads (ICBs).
In addition to these frequently asked questions, other supporting documents and resources include:
-
An Accredited official statistics release which presents headline findings and commentary on the IoD25. It explains the ways in which the Indices data can and can not be used and the range of measures available. The technical notes cover the main points which users should be aware of in using and interpreting the Indices. The release also explains how users can give feedback on the Indices, future updates and how the department will keep users informed in future.
-
A research report which provides guidance on how to use and interpret the datasets and presents further results from the IoD25. It provides a full account of the set of summary statistics available for higher-level geographies, such as Local Authority Districts, with an example of their use, and advice on interpreting change over time.
-
A technical report which presents the conceptual framework of the IoD25; the methodology for creating the domains and the overall IMD; the design principles and quality assurance carried out to ensure reliability of the data outputs; and the component indicators, datasets and domains.
-
A rural report produced in collaboration with Defra. This report considers how deprivation can manifest in a specifically rural context, how it may be quantified or measured and how this may be improved in future.
All of the data files and supporting documents are available from English indices of deprivation 2025.
7. Where can I access the raw data?
All data is published in series of spreadsheets available from English indices of deprivation 2025.
Our Local Deprivation Explorer allows users to look up deprivation data for their area, explore comparisons across England using an interactive map, and download data - with the option to get deprivation data for specific post-codes.
A range of spatial data geopackages are also available online, each complete with shapefile, mapping templates and further mapping resources:
8. What tools are available to help me use the data?
Interactive mapping tools and facilities can help users visualise relative deprivation across England. The department has produced a range of tools and resources to help users explore IoD25 data. These are available as below.
Our Local Deprivation Explorer allows users to look up deprivation data for their area, explore comparisons across England using an interactive map, and download data - with the option to get deprivation data for specific post-codes.
A range of spatial data geopackages are also available online, each complete with shapefile, mapping templates and further mapping resources:
9. Where can I access previous versions of the Indices of Deprivation?
Previous versions of the Indices of Deprivation (2000, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2015 and 2019) are available from English indices of deprivation.
Data from the 1998 iteration is available from the National Archives.
The full suite of resources for the IoD2025 are available from English indices of deprivation 2025.
10. What has changed from IoD2019?
Actions and recommendations from the Indices Future user consultation have been fully incorporated and considered as part of this update.
New datasets, methodologies and geographies have been used to produce the IoD25, meaning outputs are less directly comparable to previous Indices. New datasets, methodologies and geographies have been used to produce the IoD25, meaning outputs are less directly comparable to previous Indices. See ‘Changes to this release’ section of the statistical release for more information.
Further detail on changes has been itemised for each domain in section 4 on the technical report. More guidance on use and interpretation can be found in the research report
Using the neighbourhood level data
11. How can I look up deprivation data for my area, and does it fall among the 20% most deprived areas in England?
The IoD25 measures deprivation in small areas across England. These small areas are called LSOAs and are a standard statistical geography commonly used to divide up the country into even areas, each with a similar total population (see also Q5 and Q11). For ease of communication, within the IoD25, LSOAs are referred to as small areas or ‘neighbourhoods’.
It is common to describe how relatively deprived a neighbourhood is by saying whether it falls among the most deprived 10%, 20% or 30% of small areas in England (although there is no definitive cut-off at which an area is described as ‘deprived’).
To help with this, deprivation ‘deciles’ are published alongside ranks. Deciles are calculated by ranking the 33,755 small areas in England, from most deprived to least deprived, and dividing them into 10 equal groups. These range from the most deprived 10% of small areas nationally to the least deprived 10% of small areas nationally.
It is possible to use the data in the published spreadsheets, but many users who want to know about specific places will find it easier to use our Local Deprivation Explorer to look up the relative level of deprivation in their area.
If you are not using the tools produce a part of the IoD25 release, you can also calculate this yourself as follows (with the example of a neighbourhood ranked 5,000).
5,000/33,755 = 0.148 or 15% most deprived in England
Hence this area lies within the 20% most deprived areas in England. The same methodology can be used to calculate whether an area is within the 1%, 10%, 25% most deprived in England, and so on.
If you would prefer to look up the level of deprivation in an area using the published data files, these are available from English indices of deprivation 2025.
12. How can I get deprivation data for neighbourhoods within a Local Authority?
File 1 online contains IMD25 ranks and deciles for all neighbourhoods in England and is sufficient for the purposes of most users. The LSOAs are ordered by LSOA name, so all LSOAs in a Local Authority District are adjacent to each other. To select only one Local Authority District to view, click on the column containing district names, and apply a filter (go to Data and Filter if working in Excel) and then select your district from the list.
We also publish summary measures for Local Authority Districts. These allow users to see how a district as a whole ranks against all other districts in England on a range of measures, where 1 is the most deprived district and 296 is the least deprived.
Data can be downloaded for a bulk of postcodes, for the whole of England and explored within a Local Authority District area using our Local Deprivation Explorer.
13. How can I present the data? What are ranks and deciles?
The IoD25 ranks every neighbourhood in England from 1 (most deprived area) to 33,755 (least deprived area). There is not a definitive way to present the data. It is common to describe how relatively deprived a neighbourhood is by saying whether it falls among the most deprived 10%, 20% or 30% of small areas in England (although there is no definitive cut-off above which an area is described as ‘deprived’).
To help with this, deprivation ‘deciles’ are published alongside ranks. Deciles are calculated by ranking the 33,755 neighbourhoods in England from most deprived to least deprived and dividing them into 10 equal groups. These range from the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods nationally to the least deprived 10% of neighbourhoods nationally, as shown in the table below:
| Decile | Decile description | Ranks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10% most deprived | 1 to 3,375 |
| 2 | 10% to 20% | 3,376 to 6,751 |
| 3 | 20% to 30% | 6,752 to 10,126 |
| 4 | 30% to 40% | 10,127 to 13,502 |
| 5 | 40% to 50% | 13,503 to 16,877 |
| 6 | 50% to 60% | 16,878 to 20,253 |
| 7 | 60% to 70% | 20,254 to 23,628 |
| 8 | 70% to 80% | 23,629 to 27,004 |
| 9 | 80% to 90% | 27,005 to 30,379 |
| 10 | 10% least deprived | 30,380 to 33,755 |
Because there are 33,755 LSOAs in total, each of the decile bands are not precisely equal. Decile 1 (the most deprived decile) contains 3,375 LSOAs, Decile 2 = 3,376, Decile 3 = 3,375, Decile 4 = 3,376, Decile 5 = 3,375, Decile 6 = 3,376, Decile 7 = 3,375, Decile 8 = 3,376, Decile 9 = 3,375 and Decile 10 (the least deprived decile) contains 3,376 LSOAs.
Users can apply different cut points to the ranks to identify, for example, the 1% or 5% most deprived neighbourhoods nationally:
Neighbourhoods falling in the 1% most deprived nationally would be those ranked 1-338. The calculation is 33,755/100, because there are 33,755 small areas that need to be split into percentiles (100 equal groups).
Neighbourhoods falling in the 5% most deprived nationally would be those ranked 1-1,688. The calculation is 33,755/20, because there are 33,755 small areas that need to be split into groups containing 5% of neighbourhoods (this is 20 equal groups, since 100/5=20).
14. How can I get deprivation data for a bulk of neighbourhoods or postcodes?
Users can access data for a specified list of postcodes, all neighbourhoods within a Local Authority District or all postcodes across England using our Local Deprivation Explorer.
Data for all neighbourhoods within an LAD can be downloaded on our Download a subset of the data page. Users select a set of LADs and receive an output file containing deprivation data for each LAD and for all LSOAs within those LADs.
Data for a specified list of postcodes can also be downloaded on our Download a subset of the data page by switching to the ‘Download data for postcodes’ tab. Users submit a list of postcodes and receive an output file containing deprivation data for the geographical areas that the postcode falls within.
For users working with postcodes who want to integrate deprivation data into their pipeline, there is an option to ‘Download deprivation data for all postcodes in England’ on our Download all the data page. This feature provides the user with a CSV file containing every postcode in England, the LSOA that postcode falls within, and the deprivation data for that LSOA.
Deprivation data consists of deciles and ranks for the full IoD including the IMD25, the seven domain indices and the IDACI and IDAOPI.
Indices for higher or other geographies
15. What deprivation data is published for different geographies?
Summary measures have been published as part of the IoD2025 suite of resources for the following higher-level geographies:
- Local Authority District Summaries (File 10)
- Upper-tier Local Authority Summaries (File 11)
- Local Enterprise Partnership Summaries (File 12)
- Integrated Care Board Summaries (File 13)
- Local Resilience Forums Summaries (File 14)
- Built Up Areas Summaries (File 15)
Files 10 to 15 include a range of summary measures of the IMD25, the domains and the two supplementary indices, the IDACI and the IDAOPI.
You can find out what measures are available and how they were calculated in section 3.8 of the technical report, with worked examples in Appendix M. Advice on how to interpret these measures is provided in section 3 of the research report, with an example of how the set of measures compares for two areas.
It is important to remember that the higher-area measures are summaries. The Indices of Deprivation are designed primarily to be small-area or neighbourhood measures of relative deprivation; LSOA level data provides more detail than is available through the summaries.
In response to demand from users, we have produced some guidance on how to aggregate the neighbourhood level data to different geographies – see Appendix A to the research report.
The data files and reports are available from English indices of deprivation 2025.
16. Which of the summary measures for higher level geographies (e.g. Local Authority Districts) should I use?
The summary measures have been carefully designed to help users understand deprivation patterns for a set of higher-level areas. The measures identify the overall intensity of deprivation (Extent), how deprivation is distributed across the larger area (Local Concentration), and the overall volume, or ‘scale’, of deprivation. These measures are described in section 3.8 of the technical report, with worked examples in Appendix M. Advice on their interpretation is provided in section 3 of the research report, with an example of how the set of measures compares for two areas.
Because patterns of deprivation across larger areas can be complex, there is no single summary measure that is the ‘best’ measure. Rather, each of the summary measures that are published highlight different aspects of deprivation, and each leads to a different ranking of areas. Comparison of the different measures is needed to give a fuller description of deprivation for larger areas. However, as each summary measure is focused on measuring deprivation in a different way, users should take care and avoid comparing relative rankings according to one measure to relative rankings on a different measure across releases. Further guidance and detailed description of each summary measure are provided in section 3.8 of the technical report.
The statistical release focuses mainly on the summary statistic relating to the proportion of neighbourhoods in each Local Authority District that are among the 10% most deprived nationally, but also defines and explains the ranks and scores summary measures. There is more analysis using the wider range of summary measures presented in sections 4.4 and 5.3, of the research report.
These reports are available from English indices of deprivation 2025.
It is important to remember that the higher-area measures are summaries. The Indices of Deprivation are designed primarily to be small-area or neighbourhood measures of relative deprivation; the LSOA level data provides more detail than is available through the summaries.
17. Why don’t you publish data for wards or smaller area geographies, such as Census Output Areas (OA)?
The department does not publish ward level figures as an additional output. LSOAs are a more suitable small area geography than wards for measuring relative deprivation. Wards are much larger than LSOAs, vary greatly in size and are prone to regular boundary changes, making them unsuitable as a unit of analysis or for identifying pockets of deprivation. In contrast, LSOAs are smaller, of roughly even population size and, in the majority of instances, their boundaries are stable between each Census.
Output Areas (OAs) are also a statistical geography updated with each Census. They are smaller in size to LSOAs and represent fewer people/households. The challenge with OAs is that the breadth of robust and consistent data available across England is limited at this scale. The represents a significant challenge in creating OA based deprivation measures.
The department’s view is that it would be unhelpful to have more than one small area measure of deprivation released in parallel, as this would lead to confusion and could be potentially misleading.
More information on Census geographies can be found at Statistical geographies.
18. How can I create my own Indices for different geographies?
In response to demand from users, we have produced guidance on how to aggregate the neighbourhood level data to different geographies. This is available under Appendix A to the research report.
The table below gives the denominators used for population weighting that should be used for each domain and sub-domain when aggregating neighbourhood level data to different geographies. Population denominators for use with the IoD25 have been published in File 6 on the Indices webpage (see link above). The technical report provides more information on data sources (Appendix A) and denominators (Appendix B).
| Domain | Denominators used for Population Weighting |
|---|---|
| IMD | total population |
| Income | total population |
| Employment | working age |
| Education, Skills & Training | total population |
| Health | total population |
| Crime | total population |
| Housing | total population |
| living Environment | total population |
| Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDOACI) | dependent children |
| Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDOPCI) | older population |
| Children & Young People Sub-domain | total population |
| Adult Skills Sub-domain | total population |
| Geographical barriers sub-domain | total population |
| Wider barriers sub-domain | total population |
| Indoor barriers sub-domain | total population |
| Outdoor barriers sub-domain | total population |
19. How can I find out how LSOAs relate to other geographies e.g. wards? Where can I access look-up files?
For an individual area, you can use our Local Deprivation Explorer described in Question 5.
For a bulk of areas, you will need to obtain a look-up file. Look-up tables for different geographies are produced by the Office for National Statistics. These are either published on their Open Geography Portal or are available on request.
20. Is there a UK wide Index of Multiple Deprivation?
There is currently no UK wide Index of Multiple Deprivation. Each country in the UK produces and publishes its own Indices of Deprivation release using similar methodologies. Differences in the indicators used, the time periods covered, and the sizes of their small areas mean that it is not possible to make direct comparisons between these indices.
The Office for National Statistics previously published information explaining in more detail the similarities and differences between the 4 Indices.
The most recent Indices of Deprivation data for the Devolved Administrations are available via the links below:
Following the departments 2022 Indices Future User Consultation and the 2020 review of by the Office for Statistics Regulation, MHCLG continues to work with the devolved administrations to explore opportunities to produce harmonised outputs (Action 5). As at the time of this release, we are sourcing data which will enable the publication of UK-wide products. Release plans are yet to be confirmed but will be announced on GOV.UK in due course.
21. Is there an average level of deprivation in England?
An overall figure for the average level of deprivation in England is not produced as part of the package of resources. The Indices are a set of small area measures and, alongside the loss of nuance at higher level geographic, a national figure would also be meaningless as deprivation is measured relatively, rather than anything on an absolute scale.
Interpreting the data
22. What can the Indices be used for?
The statistical release illustrates how the IoD25 is comprised provides guidance on what it can and cannot be sued for.
Comparing small areas across England
The IoD25 uses the same data sources and combines them in the same way for every small area in England. This means you can directly compare the ranks of different small areas in England. If a small area’s rank is closer to 1 than that of another area, it is more deprived.
Identifying the most deprived small areas
You can identify which small areas are amongst the most deprived in England using the published deciles, for example, to show which areas are amongst the 10% or 20% most deprived small areas nationally. You can also apply different cut-off points to the ranks to identify, for example, the 1% or 5% most deprived small areas nationally.
Exploring the domains (or types) of deprivation
You can look at the index for each of the seven domains, and two supplementary domains, to explore which types of deprivation, e.g. income or health, are more prominent within areas or to focus on particular types of deprivation and explore how areas rank across each.
Comparing larger areas e.g. Local Authority Districts
A range of summary measures highlighting different aspects of deprivation are provided for larger areas, including Local Authority Districts. Because patterns of deprivation across larger areas can be complex, there is no single summary measure that is the ‘best’ measure. Comparison of the different measures is needed to give a fuller description of deprivation for larger areas.
23. What can’t the Indices be used for?
The statistical release illustrates how the Index of Multiple Deprivation is comprised provides guidance on what it can and cannot be sued for.
Quantifying how deprived a small area is
The IoD25 provides a suite of relative measures of deprivation. This means that each can tell you if one area is more deprived than another but not by how much. For example, a small area with a rank of 1,000 is not half as deprived as a place with a rank of 500.
Identifying deprived people
The IoD25 release provides measures of relative deprivation in an area and all are suitable for use where deprivation is concentrated in small areas. Within every area there will be individuals who are deprived and individuals who are not. The Index is not a suitable tool for targeting individuals.
Saying how affluent a place is
The IoD25 is designed to identify aspects of deprivation, not affluence. For example, the Income Deprivation domain is concerned with people on low incomes who are in receipt of a range of benefits and tax credits. An area with a relatively small proportion of people (or indeed no people) on low incomes may also have relatively few or no people on high incomes. Such an area may be ranked among the least deprived in the country, but it is not necessarily among the most affluent.
Comparing with small areas in other UK countries
Each country in the UK produces its own version of the Index of Multiple Deprivation using similar methodologies. However, differences in the indicators used, the time periods covered, and the sizes of their small areas mean that it is not possible to make direct comparisons between these indices. Future, more specific harmonised releases will aim to aid this comparison.
Measuring real change in deprivation over time
As explained above, one can compare the rankings as determined at the relevant time point by each version of the Indices of Deprivation. But the Indices are not designed to provide ‘backwards’ comparability with previous iterations. Changes between versions of the Indices can limit the ability to make comparisons over time are described in Section 3.4 of the research report.
24. What do people use the Indices of Deprivation for?
The Indices are an essential tool used by national and local organisations to target resources, develop policy and support decisions about addressing local needs. More specifically, they are used in the development of the evidence base for setting a range of local strategies and service planning, including helping to understand both current and future need and service demand.
More locally, the Indices are often used as evidence in the development of strategies, to target interventions, and in bids for funding. The voluntary and community sector also uses the Indices to help identify areas where people may benefit from the services they provide, for example.
25. Can I use the Indices to compare over time?
New datasets, methodologies and geographies have been used to produce the IoD25, meaning outputs are less directly comparable to previous Indices.
Overall, a total of 55 indicators comprise the IoD25, an increase from 39 in the IoD19. Of these, 20 are new indicators, 14 indicators have been significantly modified, while 21 have been updated to more recent timepoints. Three indicators have also been removed. A detailed breakdown of changes by domain is available in in Table 3.2 of the technical report.
The purpose of the Indices is to provide a consistent, accurate and robust measure of relative deprivation at a small area level across England. Updates and changes to methods and datasets come at the expense of ‘backwards’ comparability with previous versions of the Indices. Indices releases should not be viewed or construed as a time-series and there are other important changes to consider which limit the ability to make accurate comparisons over time:
-
changes to the data used to construct the indicators, including changes to eligibility criteria for certain benefits, definitions and collection methods alongside the removal or inclusion of new datasets
-
updates and revisions to population denominator data
-
changes to the area definitions and administrative geographies
However, keeping a consistent conceptual framework and methodology does allow some comparisons to be made, but only in terms of comparing the rankings as a snapshot in time, accompanied by appropriate caveats around changes as noted above (see research report for further detail).
26. What do the deprivation scores mean and what can they be used for?
The ranks and deciles published for the neighbourhood-level IoD25 outputs are based on scores: the larger the score, the more deprived the area. The ranks are based on unrounded scores and so give more precision than if users were to rank areas using the published scores (which are rounded).
In the case of the Income and Employment deprivation domains and the supplementary children (IDACI) and older people (IDAOPI) indices, the scores are meaningful and relate to a proportion of the relevant population experiencing that type of deprivation. So, for example, if an LSOA has a score of 0.38 in the Income Deprivation Domain, this means that 38% of the population is income deprived in that area. This means that in addition to the ranks which show relative deprivation, the scores for these domains can be used to compare areas on an absolute scale.
The scores for the IMD and the remaining five domains are less easy to interpret, as they do not relate straightforwardly to the proportion of the population experiencing deprivation and involve more data linking and statistical processing to produce. It is recommended that ranks and deciles, but not scores, are used in the case of the IMD and these domains.
More detail on summary measures is provided in Chapter 3.3 of the research report and 3.8 of the technical report
27. Why are scores published separately from ranks and deciles?
Scores are published separately (see File 5) to ranks and deciles (Files 1 to 4). This is because for most of the Indices, including the IMD, the scores are not easily interpretable – as explained above.
Furthermore, the ranks are based on unrounded scores and so give more precision than if users were to rank areas using the published scores (which are rounded).
A CSV file which contains all the data from Files 1 to 6 is available in File 7 – this includes all ranks, deciles and scores for the IoD25.
All of the data files and supporting documents are available from English indices of deprivation 2025.
28. Where can I find out more about how the Indices are constructed?
The IoD25 has been constructed for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) by Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) and Deprivation.org.
A summary of the methodology and data sources used in the IoD2025 is available in Chapter 2 of the research report. Chapter 3 of the technical report describes the methodology in detail. Chapter 4 of technical report describes the component indicators in the IoD2025 including the data sources used and explains how the indicators were combined to create each domain. Chapter 5 of the technical report describes the design principles and quality assurance carried out to ensure reliability of the data outputs.
Other specialist questions
29. How can I create my own bespoke deprivation index using different domain weights to the IMD?
See Appendix B to the research report for further guidance.
30. How can I get a shapefile of LSOA boundaries to map the data?
A range of spatial data geopackages are also available online, each complete with shapefile, mapping templates and further mapping resources:
31. Other specialist needs
The majority of users will find the IMD25 and data made available as part of the IoD25 update sufficient for their purposes. Advice is provided on how to re-use the data to compile summaries for other higher-level areas than are published here, or to compile a composite measure of relative deprivation using different weights to the IMD25, in Appendix A and Appendix B of the research report.
Getting and keeping in touch
32. How do I register for email alerts about the Indices?
To register for emails alerts about the Indices, email indices.deprivation@communities.gov.uk with ‘subscribe’ in the subject heading.
33. How do I get in touch if I have a query about the Indices?
Email indices.deprivation@communities.gov.uk
Queries will receive an automatic acknowledgement stating that the query has been received. This will also include some useful links and resources which may help answer your query. We will endeavour to respond to queries within 20 working days and aim to respond more quickly where possible. If the answer to your query is contained within the automatic acknowledgement you may not receive a direct response.
34. How do I reference the Indices in my own work?
Follow standard referencing conventions to reference the Indices in your work, incorporating the departments name, a weblink to resources used and the date of access.
35. When will the next Indices of Deprivation be published?
The Indices of Deprivation are typically updated every 3 to 5 years, but the dates of publication for future Indices have not yet been scheduled.
To register for email alerts about the Indices, email indices.deprivation@communities.gov.uk with ‘subscribe’ in the subject heading.
Users will be kept informed of future updates and how they can contribute their views.
36. Correction following release
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) corrected and republished an LSOA to Local Authority District (LAD) look-up file on the ONS Open Geography portal website which was available to users from 26 August 2025.
This update corrected an error in the original ONS release relating to the allocation of LSOA E01027305 - West Northamptonshire 048E. Prior to this correction, the LSOA was allocated to Cherwell LAD (E07000177) in error. Following republication, the LSOA is now correctly allocated to West Northamptonshire LAD (E06000062).
The Indices production team accessed this ONS look-up file prior to its republication to meet production timescales, resulting in the ONS error being present in the Indices statistics published on 30 October 2025. Corrections were made to all affected tables as soon as possible after discovery. More detail is available at the links above and within the ‘Notes’ tab of each published data file.