Administrative sources and population statistics

Fiona Aitchison, Office for National Statistics, UK

Our rapidly changing society is providing ever increasing challenges to those attempting to measure and estimate the population. Changes such as increased population mobility, lower fertility and mortality rates, more complex living arrangements and shifting societal norms in the areas of partnership and family formation all add to the problems of producing accurate population estimates on a usual residence basis. Many of the statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics are calculated through the use of administrative data sources. For example, the mid-year estimates (MYEs) are calculated using such data sources as birth and death registrations from the Registrar General’s Office, GP patient register and National Health Service Central Register data and the International Passenger Survey. This paper considers whether the inclusion of additional administrative data sources might help to improve the quality of population statistics