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What data sources underpin the indicators, and how often are they updated?

Understand the data sources behind each indicator.

The Economic Wellbeing Explorer combines financial and contextual indicators from a range of trusted sources. Each source has its own update schedule, so you may notice that indicators refer to different reference dates. 

Financial Wellbeing Indicators 

These measures come from Smart Data Foundry’s anonymised dataset, built from over 5 million consumer bank accounts dating back to November 2023. These indicators are refreshed monthly to provide up-to-date weekly-level insights: 

  • Overdrawn accounts 
  • Living beyond means 
  • Low emergency resilience
  • Coming Soon: People with high essential expenditure
  • Coming Soon: People with high benefits income


You can always see the most recent date of these updates in the Data Sources section of the ‘Resources’ tab on the dashboard, as well as when you click on a datapoint. 

Contextual Indicators 

Contextual data provides important background to the financial indicators on the dashboard. These datasets come from official statistics across Scotland, Wales and England. They cover themes including demographics, housing, education, and deprivation. 

Because these sources are updated at different times, not all contextual data will share the same reference year. 

These come from open data and official statistics, including: 
  • scotlandscensus.gov.uk – census-based measures such as disability and household composition 
  • statistics.gov.scot – property size, energy efficiency, school attainment, youth population 
  • Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) – access to GP services, school proximity

Demographic 

  • Disabled / long-term health households 
    • Scotland: Census 2022 (UV303) — proportion of individuals who have a disability or long-term health issue, which significantly impacts daily activities. 
    • Wales & England: Census 2021 (Nomis TS038) — proportion of individuals who have a disability or long-term health issue, which significantly impacts daily activities. 
  • Young mothers 
    • First-time mothers under 19 
      • Scotland: Public Health Scotland 2019 — first-time mothers aged under 19 as a proportion of all first-time mothers (2016/17–2018/19). 
    • Births to mothers under 18 
      • Wales & England: ONS 2024 — births to mothers aged under 18 as a proportion of total births. Data available only at local, regional, and national levels. 
  • Families with dependent children 
    • Scotland: Census 2022 (UC113) — proportion of households with dependent children. 
    • Wales & England: Census 2021 (Nomis TS003) — proportion of households with dependent children. 
  • Youth population 
    • Wales & England: Census 2021 (TS007B) — age by broad bands, used to calculate proportion under 16. 

Housing 

  • Average home size (m²) 
    • Scotland: Scottish Government 2024 — derived from energy performance certificate surveys for individual dwellings. We consider energy certificates from Q4 2014 to Q3 2024. This dataset shows the total floor area in square meteres for each dwelling. We calculate the mean of floor area of all properties listed in each area. 
    • Wales & England: Gov.uk 2024 — derived from energy performance certificate surveys for individual dwellings. We consider energy certificates from Q4 2014 to Q3 2024. This dataset shows the total floor area in square metres for each dwelling. For each area, we calculate the mean of the total floor area of all properties listed in that area. This data was not available at the LSOA/ MSOA levels. 
  • Homes with poor energy efficiency 
    • Scotland: Scottish Government 2024 — derived from energy performance certificate (EPC) surveys for individual dwellings. We consider energy certificates from Q4 2014 to Q3 2024. This dataset shows the EPC rating for each dwelling. EPC ratings go from A to G – with A as the best. For each area, we calculate the proportion of houses with an energy rating worse than C listed in that area. 
    • Wales & England: Nomis 2024 — derived from energy performance certificate (EPC) surveys for individual dwellings. We consider energy certificates from Q4 2014 to Q3 2024. This dataset shows the EPC rating for each dwelling. EPC ratings go from A to G – with A as the best. For each area, we calculate the proportion of houses with an energy rating worse than C listed in that area. 
  • Average house price 
    • Wales & England: ONS 2023 — median price paid for residential property by MSOA (year ending March 2023). 

Education 

  • Educational attainment 
    • Scotland: Census 2022 (UV501) — highest qualification achieved by those aged 16+.  Categories: 
      • Basic secondary 
        • the proportion of people in each area whose highest level of qualification is lower school qualifications. 
      • Advanced secondary 
        • the proportion of people in each area whose highest level of qualification is upper school. 
      • Apprenticeship 
        • the proportion of people in each area whose highest level of qualification is apprenticeship. 
      • Further education 
        • the proportion of people in each area who have achieved further education, sub degree qualifications, degree level qualifications or above. 
      • No qualification 
        • the proportion of people in each area who have not received any of the aforementioned qualifications. 
    • Wales & England: Census 2021 (TS067) — highest qualification achieved by those aged 16+.  Categories: 
      • Basic secondary 
        • the proportion of people in each area whose highest level of qualification is level 1 or level 2. 
      • Advanced secondary 
        • the proportion of people in each area whose highest level of qualification is level 3. 
      • Apprenticeship 
        • the proportion of people in each area whose highest level of qualification is apprenticeship. 
      • Further education 
        • the proportion of people in each area who have achieved level 4 qualifications. 
      • No qualification 
        • the proportion of people in each area who have achieved level 4 qualifications. 

Indices of Multiple Deprivation 

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), 2020  

The SIMD is a relative measure of deprivation across Data Zones. It looks at the extent to which an area is deprived across seven domains: income, employment, education, health, access to services, crime and housing. The Scottish Government makes data available on each of these domains, which was last updated in 2020. 

We show these indicators: 

  • Average drive time to a GP surgery in minutes 
  • Average public transport travel time to a GP surgery in minutes 
  • Average drive time to a primary school in minutes 

Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD), 2019  

The WIMD is the official measure of deprivation for small areas in Wales. The most recent data available is from 2019. 

We show these indicators: 

  • Average time taken using private transport to travel to a GP surgery (WIMD driving time in minutes) 
  • Average time taken using public transport to travel to a GP surgery in minutes 
  • Average time taken using private transport to travel to primary school (WIMD primary school driving time in minutes) 

English Indices of Deprivation (EID), 2019  

The English Index of Deprivation provides statistics on relative deprivation in small areas in England. We use data from 2019. 

We show these indicators: 

  • Road distance to primary school (km) 
  • Road distance to GP surgery (km) 

Update frequency: 

  • Census-based measures – every few years, in line with national census schedules
  • SIMD measures – typically every few years
  • Property data and school attainment – usually updated annually

Because these sources are updated at different times, you may notice that not all contextual data has the same reference year. 

Tip:

If you want to check the specific source and date of any indicator, you can view the ‘About’ tab at the top of the dashboard. 

Looking for more data? 

We’re always exploring new data sources and additional indicators to improve the Economic Wellbeing Explorer. If there’s something specific you’d like to see included, please contact our team to share your suggestions.