Bringing local data to life: the journey behind Explore Local Statistics
Back in December 2021, the Government Statistical Service Subnational Data Strategy launched a bold vision: to make local data more accessible, more useful, and more meaningful for everyone. The idea was simple but powerful — create a single, user-friendly service where people could explore statistics about their local areas, compare them with others, and even define their own custom geographies.
At the Office for National Statistics (ONS) we began our journey to bring this vision to life.
Meet Explore Local Statistics
Fast forward to today, and we’re proud to introduce Explore Local Statistics (ELS) — a dynamic new service that makes local data easy to access and explore.
With ELS, you can:
- See how your area is performing across a range of indicators
- Track changes over time
- Compare your area with others across the UK
Whether you’re interested in health, education, employment, or housing, ELS lets you explore by geography or by topic. The service even includes clustering analysis to help you compare your area with statistically similar ones.
All of this is powered by a rich collection of publicly available data from ONS, other public bodies, and the devolved governments — brought together in one place.
How we built it
Behind the scenes, ELS is powered by an automated data pipeline that standardises and integrates datasets from multiple sources. This ensures everything is in a consistent format, accurate geography codes, and seamless integration into the front-end interface. The code and data behind the service are open and publicly available on the ONS Digital GitHub.
Designed with Users in Mind
We followed Agile principles and the Government Digital Service (GDS) guidelines, building the service in stages and constantly testing assumptions with real users. Their feedback helped shape every step of the journey.
Here’s a quick timeline of how we got here:
- Feb 2022: Launched the Alpha prototype, the Subnational Indicators Explorer
- Mar 2023: Introduced Find facts and figures, a new geography-focused journey on the ONS site
- Mar 2024: Released the Beta version of Explore Local Statistics
- Apr 2025: ELS officially went Live and became part of the main ONS website
Award-Winning Impact
Since its launch, ELS has already made waves. We’re honoured to have received:
- The 2024 Royal Statistical Society Campion Award for Excellence in Official Statistics
- Joint winners of the 2025 Analysis in Government Awards in the Communication category
These recognitions reflect the hard work of our cross-divisional, multidisciplinary team — and the value ELS brings to users across the UK.
What’s Next?
We’re not stopping here. Our roadmap includes
- Adding more datasets and expanding UK-wide coverage
- Improving the resilience of our data pipeline
- Enhancing the user experience based on ongoing feedback
We also recently updated the Build a Custom Area Profile tool to include newer non-Census data — check it out to see what’s new!
See it in action
Curious to explore your local area? Watch our demo video to learn how to navigate the service, explore indicators, and compare areas across the UK.
Or dive right in on the Explore local statistics web page.
We’d love to hear from you
Your feedback helps us make ELS even better. If you have thoughts, suggestions, or want to take part in future user research, please get in touch with us at Explore.Local.Statistics@ons.gov.uk.
Sian-Elin Wyatt