# List of United Kingdom censuses

The census in the United Kingdom is decennial, that is, held every ten years, although there is provision in the Census Act 1920 for a census to take place at intervals of five years or more. There are actually three separate censuses in the United Kingdom – in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – although they are often co-ordinated. From 1821 to 1911, the census included the whole of Ireland.
There have only been three occasions in Great Britain where the census has not been decennial: There was no census in 1941 due to the Second World War; a mini-census using a ten per cent sample of the population was conducted on 24 April 1966; and the planned Scottish 2021 census was delayed to 2022 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. No census was held in Ireland in 1921, as a consequence of the Irish War of Independence; instead, Northern Ireland carried out a census in 1926, the first there for fifteen years. No census was carried out in Northern Ireland in 1931, but one was carried out in 1937.

## Past censuses
### Published censuses

The census records which have been published relate to the occupants of each household, as enumerated for the dates given below:
* United Kingdom Census 1801 - Tuesday, 10 March
* United Kingdom Census 1811 - Monday, 27 May
* United Kingdom Census 1821 - Monday, 28 May
* United Kingdom Census 1831 - Monday, 30 May
* United Kingdom Census 1841 - Sunday, 6 June
* United Kingdom Census 1851 - Sunday, 30 March
* United Kingdom Census 1861 - Sunday, 7 April
* United Kingdom Census 1871 - Sunday, 2 April
* United Kingdom Census 1881 - Sunday, 3 April
* United Kingdom Census 1891 - Sunday, 5 April
* United Kingdom Census 1901 - Sunday, 31 March
* United Kingdom Census 1911 - Sunday, 2 April
* United Kingdom Census 1921 - Sunday, 19 June
* National Registration Act 1939 - Friday, 29 September Second World War

### Unpublished censuses

Under the 100-year closure rule established after the 1911 census was taken, only summary results for censuses after 1939 – though with significant statistical detail – are published in the months following the enumeration dates given below; the full information (individual household entries) in later censuses will not be released until the dates stated, a century after each later census was conducted.
* Northern Ireland Census 1926 - Sunday, 18 April: The census returns were not transferred to the Public Record Office in Northern Ireland, and are believed to have been destroyed without authorisation, possibly as part of a World War II waste-paper campaign.
* United Kingdom Census 1931 - Sunday, 26 April: carried out in England, Wales, and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland. The England and Wales census returns were destroyed in an accidental fire in 1942; the Scottish census returns were stored in Edinburgh, and survived. The scheduled publication date for the Scottish returns is 1 January 2032
* Northern Ireland Census 1937 - Sunday, 28 February: Unlike the 1926 Northern Ireland census, the 1937 census records survive. (scheduled publication date 1 January 2038)
* United Kingdom Census 1941 - no census taken due to World War II.
* United Kingdom Census 1951 - Sunday, 8 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2052)
* United Kingdom Census 1961 - Sunday, 23 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2062)
* United Kingdom Census 1966 - Sunday, 24 April mini-census using a ten per cent sample (publication date 1 January 2067)
* United Kingdom Census 1971 - Sunday, 25 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2072)
* United Kingdom Census 1981 - Sunday, 5 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2082)
* United Kingdom Census 1991 - Sunday, 21 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2092)
* United Kingdom Census 2001 - Sunday, 29 April (scheduled publication date 1 January 2102)
* United Kingdom Census 2011 - Sunday, 27 March (scheduled publication date 1 January 2112)
* United Kingdom Census 2021 - carried out in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland only on Sunday, 21 March (scheduled publication date 1 January 2122). The census in Scotland was carried out on 20 March 2022. (scheduled publication date 1 January 2123)