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Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)
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. Data sheets available in the Links section below.
Index of Deprivation Dashboard (Direct Link)
Index of Deprivation 2025 Key Messages
The 2025 release uses 55 separate indicators (mainly from 2021/22, 2023/24), organised across seven distinct domains of deprivation which can be combined, using appropriate weights, to calculate an Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Key Messages
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- Overall, County Durham was ranked 40th out of 153 upper tier local authorities in England (with 1 being the most deprived). This suggests an increase in relative deprivation compared to the 2019 IoD[1] and puts County Durham in the third most deprived decile (10%) nationally. Individual domain rankings and national deciles for County Durham can be seen in Table 1 below.
- 1% of County Durham LSOAs (n=7) are in the top 1% most deprived areas nationally.
- 7% of our residents live in these areas (around 9,000 people).
- 17% of County Durham LSOAs (n=56) are in the top 10% most deprived nationally.
- 3% of our residents live in these areas (around 80,000 residents).
- 5% of County Durham LSOAs (n=130) are in the top 30% most deprived areas nationally.
- 2% of our residents live in these areas (around 276,000)
[1] Upper tier local authorities are the administrative unit used in these analyses unless otherwise stated.
[2] Where 1 is the most deprived nationally.
Links to related factsheets and resources
For accessible versions of these two files please contact: ina@durham.gov.uk
- ID2025 by LSOA in County Durham (XLSX; 87Kb) (Summary of the IMD2025 for Lower Super Output Areas LSOAs in County Durham)
- ID2025 by MSOA in house estimate County Durham (XLSX; 42KB) (In house estimate: Summary of the IMD2025 for Middle Super Output Areas MSOAs in County Durham. Created using the methodology detailed in the IMD2025 research document on the site below)