The National Population Database

Minimise risks to your employees, assets and the general public by estimating
the population of any UK location at any time of day or night.

Try the NPD for free!

The new NPD portal lets you experiment with a sample of data.

The National Population Database (NPD) was originally developed in 2004 by HSE and Staffordshire University.

It is a unique Geographical Information System (GIS) dataset that enables the estimation of residents, workers and other population types in any location - down to individual building level - in Great Britain.

The NPD uses the latest and most accurate data available, and provides unmatched levels of granularity.

An invaluable risk management tool for businesses with UK-wide operations

Although the NPD's primary use is to assess the risk to people from major natural or man-made hazards it is an asset that can be used for many other applications, for example:

• to minimise the risk associated with major building works of infrastructure upgrades by construction or utilities companies
• to enable telecoms providers to optimally position mobile communications masts, thereby ensuring maximum coverage in any given location
• to provide traffic management modelling capabilities for transport companies
• to give businesses confdence in their emergency resilience or disaster recovery planning

For more information about the NPD contact us now: npd@hse.gov.uk

Population data trusted by government

The NPD's dataset is used by the UK government's 'Resilience Direct' platform. This secure online network for sharing real time information enables emergency services to deliver an efficient and co-ordinated response in situations that impact civil protection.

National Population Database

The data provided by the NPD is split into five themes, each with its own subcategories, as illustrated:

• Residential

  • Night time term-time
  • Night time non-term-time
  • Day time term-time
  • Day time non-term-time

• Sensitive

  • Schools
  • Colleges
  • Care home
  • Hospitals
  • Childcare
  • Prisons

• Transport

  • Roads
  • Airports
  • Bus/coach stations
  • Light rail stops
  • Ports & ferry terminals
  • Railwaystations
  • Underground stations

• Workplaces

  • Total workforce
  • Daytime
  • Evening
  • Overnight
  • Saturday
  • Sunday

• Leisure

  • Campsites
  • Stadia

Typically, two population subcategories are updated each quarter, with the entire NPD being updated over a two-year cycle.

Protect your people, property and the public: get access to the NPD now

Anyone can buy part or all of the NPD dataset as long as the use to which the data are being applied has some connection to health or safety.

Payment of a licensing fee is necessary since the NPD contains not only data collected by the Health and Safety Executive but also third-party intellectual property. The fee is scalable, meaning that you only pay for the data you need - you don't need to buy the entire UK dataset.

Organisations that are members of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) or contractors working on behalf of a PSMA member can access the data for a reduced fee, as no duties will be due to the Ordnance Survey or Royal Mail.

If you feel that you need more than just the data, we also offer expert data interpretation and consultancy services to help you get the maximum value from the data. This can be more cost-effective, particularly where you have a single question to answer.

Try the NPD now!

The new NPD portal lets you experiment with the different layers using data for an area in the south-east of Manchester. Based on the ArcGIS website, you don't need any installed GIS software. Plus, find out how and why the NPD was created.

We recommend using a modern browser such as Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

Alternatively, you can contact our NPD Team directly.