Internal migration: census data as a gold standard for insight and visualisation

The census of population, conducted by three statistical offices in the United Kingdom, provides a unique resource for measuring and understanding internal migration patterns and propensities. It is the only source that asks an entire population, once every ten years, about their migration behaviour and as such provides a valuable resource for assessing the impact that migration has on the size and composition of local populations. The data are attribute rich in that they provide information about migration patterns by demographic group and are spatially detailed so provide a view of the impact that migration has on small areas. Despite their utility, the data have limitations, not least that they are only collected once per decade so only provide a snapshot of the UK migration system. This paper utilises data from the previous four censuses to present maps showing how migration propensity and efficiency has changed between 1981 and 2011.