Since the 1970s the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and its predecessors have calculated various local measures of deprivation in England. The increasing availability of administrative data at local levels has driven developments in the definition and measurement of relative deprivation.
The concept of relative deprivation reflects various socioeconomic inequalities between and within areas. It is important because these indices attempt to describe the conditions in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age. These conditions influence a person’s opportunity to be healthy, risk of illness and life expectancy as well as a host of other socioeconomic outcomes.
Since their original publication in 2000 the indices have been used very widely for a variety of purposes, including the targeting of resources, both locally and nationally, providing an evidence base for policy and strategy development, supporting grant applications and for general research applications.
Index of Deprivation Dashboard (Direct Link)
Index of Deprivation 2019 Key Messages
The 2019 release uses 39 separate indicators (mainly from 2015/16, 16/17), organised across seven distinct domains of deprivation which can be combined, using appropriate weights, to calculate an Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Key Messages
- County Durham is in the top 40% most deprived upper-tier local authorities[1] in England. Seven of the 12 North East local authorities are ranked in the 30% most deprived upper-tier authorities across England.
- County Durham is ranked as the 48th most deprived upper-tier local authority out of 151 nationally, (up from the ID2015 ranking of 59th)[2].
- All North East local authorities experienced an increase in relative deprivation (i.e. by rank) between the 2015 and 2019 Indices. This varied between Middlesbrough (from a national ranking of 6th to 5th most deprived) and Gateshead (from 58th to 36th most deprived, a move of 22 places).
- Of the 324 LSOAs in County Durham, 0.9% (n=3) are ranked in the most deprived 1% nationally. This is an increase from the previous indices where only 1 local LSOA was in the most deprived 1% nationally.
- Woodhouse Close Central remains the most deprived LSOA in the county, ranked 150th most deprived nationally (from 190th) followed by Easington Colliery North ranked 221nd (510th) and Horden Central ranked 221st (396th)
- 12% of County Durham LSOAs (n=39) are ranked in the most deprived 10 percent most deprived areas in England. This has increased by less than 1% (n=36) from ID2015. 10% of our population live in these areas.
- 2% (34) of those 39 LSOAs in the top 10% in 2019 were in the most deprived 10% in 2015, similar to national levels (88%).
- 49% of County Durham LSOAs (n=158) are ranked in the 30% most deprived areas in England. 47% of our population live in these areas.
[1] Upper tier local authorities are the administrative unit used in these analyses unless otherwise stated.
[2] Where 1 is the most deprived nationally.