Census output geography

Understanding census statistical output geography.

Background

Census statistical outputs need to be produced for a variety of geographies in Northern Ireland to maximise the utility of the data and realise key benefits. These geographies range in size from neighbourhoods to large administrative units, such as Local Government Districts (LGDs).

A public consultation on our Census 2021 outputs strategy took place in 2018 and indicated a user need to update the Small Area and Super Output Area geographies developed for the 2011 Census. As a result, NISRA has developed two new statistical output geographies to support the dissemination of Census 2021 statistics.

New statistical output geographies

The two new statistical output geographies for Census 2021 are named Data Zone (DZ2021) and Super Data Zone (SDZ2021).

Read our information papers to find out how the new statistical output geographies have been developed, and how other Northern Ireland geographies can be approximated.

Digital boundaries

The Data Zone and Super Data Zone digital boundaries are available in a range of formats, including shapefile, GeoJSON, and geodatabase.

Users can download digital boundaries for:

Census population-weighted centroids

Census 2021 population-weighted centroids are available for Data Zones and Super Data Zones. Each centroid is a single reference point representing the spatial distribution of the Census 2021 usual resident population in that area.

Census 2021 data

Person and household estimates

Census 2021 person and household estimates for Data Zone, Super Data Zone, and District Electoral Area are available to download.

Flexible Table Builder

Use the Flexible Table Builder to create your own Census 2021 tables at Data Zone, Super Data Zone, and District Electoral Area level.

A number of Census 2021 topics are available, including demography, identity, religion, ethnicity, housing, qualifications, and health.

Census area explorer

Use the census area explorer to view Census 2021 area profiles for a number of geographies, including Data Zone, Super Data Zone, and District Electoral Area.