Headline Macro Data

Compilations of long-run historical data

The first two datasets are large compilations of historical statistics that go up almost to the present day.  Users should consult these spreadsheets first for long time series of macroeconomic data.

• Bank of England Millennium of Macroeconomic Data v3.1 (to be updated soon for data up to end 2018)
• ESCoE Project 1.1 A Century of UK Economic Trends v1.1 (to be updated soon for data up to end 2018)

The Gayer Rostow Schwartz dataset 1790-1850

For additional data over the late C18th and early C19th the previously unpublished microfiche underlying the study The Growth and Fluctuation of the British Economy 1790-1850, put together by Professor Anna Schwartz, is now available with the kind permission of Professor Schwartz' family.  The microfiche contains important background information on the construction of the statistics as well as data. Some but not all of the data are available in Excel as a result of a British Academy Leverhulme Grant: SG150907.

PDF files

• Microfiche Contents
• Part I - Chapters I to VIII
• Part I - Chapters IX, X plus Part II, Tables
• Part III - Tables of Commodity Prices
• Part IV Section I - Production Data
• Part IV Section II - Foreign Trade and Shipping Statistics
• Part IV Section III Commodity Price Series
• Part IV Section IV - Financial Data, Chapters I to III
• Part IV Section IV - Financial Data, Chapters IV to IX
• Part IV Section IV, Chapter X and Section V - National Wealth and Income, Labour and Vital Statistics

Excel files

• Part IV - Section III Commodity Price Series
• Part IV - Section IV Financial Data, Chapters I to III - Banking, Money and Bank of England Operations
• Part IV - Section IV Financial Data, Chapters IV to VI - Interest Rates, Asset Prices and Exchange Rates
• Part IV - Section IV Financial Data, Chapters VII to IX - Bankruptices, Rent and Public Finance

The C19th - Porter's The Progress of the Nation

Another highly-valuable source of statistics for the first half of the C19th is George Porter's The Progress of the Nation of which several editions were produced and covered a broad range of social, commercial and industrial statistics of the time. Porter was uniquely qualified to put together such a compendium. He was one of the founders of what became the Royal Statistical Society, and in 1834, when the Board of Trade was reorganized, he was placed at the head of the Statistical Department. A first edition was produced between 1836 and 1838 covering eight sections in three parts, followed by subsequent editions in 1848 and 1851 which combined all eight sections in one volume. In 1912 a further edition was produced by the editor of the Economist F.W. Hirst which updated the statistics to the start of the C20th. The 1836 edition was digitised by Google and has been combined here into one volume. The 1851 and 1912 volumes are also available. These were all downloaded from the Internet Archive:

• Porter - The Progress of the Nation - 1836 edition
• Porter - The Progress of the Nation - 1851 edition
• Porter - The Progress of the Nation - 1912 edition

Data from 1842 onward can be found in the Statistical Abstract of the United Kingdom and other publications in the Relevant Periodicals Section below.

World War II - the Statistical Digest of the War

Detailed macro and other data over the World War II period can be found in the Statistical Digest of the War linked below although the Annual Abstract of Statistics in the Relevant Periodicals Section also contain data covering this period:

• Fighting with Figures - a Statistical Digest of The Second World War with introduction by Peter Howlett (148MB)

ESCoE research

ESCoE Project 1.1 produced a Technical Report summarising the available inventory of macroeconomic data over the past one hundred years. It contains a discussion of many current issues with constructing long time series in the UK and contains a number charts of existing historical series.

• A Century of High Frequency UK Macroeconomic Statistics: A Data Inventory

the London and Cambridge Economic Service - Special Memoranda on Statistics

The London and Cambridge Economic Service, which was set up in the early 1920s, produced a series of Monthly Bulletins containing a range of useful monthly statistical data for the interwar period. These can be found in the Relevant Periodicals section below. They also produced a series of Special Memoranda on various statistical issues written by many well-known interwar economists and statisticians including Bowley, Keynes and Robertson. See the List of Special Memoranda 1-49. The individual memoranda can be accessed on the page below.

• London and Cambridge Economic Service – Special Memoranda 1-49

Official Methodology Papers

Key methodology articles were published regularly in Economic Trends which are available at the link below

• Economic Trends Articles

The Studies in Official Statistics Series and associated Research Series provide many useful technical articles on various statistics.

• Studies in Official Statistics
• Studies in Official Statistics, Research Series

The Statistical News publication produced by the CSO provided a comprehensive account of current developments in British official statistics and contained two or more articles each dealing with a subject in depth. Shorter notes gave news of the latest developments in many fields, including international statistics.

• Statistical News

The Government Statistical Service/National Statistics Service produced a methodology series containing many useful articles on various statistical issues

• Government Statistical Service Methodology Series

Guides to Official Statistics are available for a number of years

• Guide to Current Offical Statistics Volume 2 1923
• Guide to Current Offical Statistics Volume 3 1924
• Guide to Current Offical Statistics Volume 6 1927
• List of Principal Statistical Series and Publications - 1974
• Guide to Official Statistics No.1 1976
• Guide to Official Statistics No.4 1982
• Guide to Official Statistics No. 6 1996

Definitions and Explanatory Notes

The Monthly Digest of Statistics Supplement of Definitions and Explanatory Notes is available for the years 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1971 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
From 1993 the definitions and explanatory notes can be found in the annual supplement contained in the January edition of the Digest which can be found in the Relevant Periodicals section below.

Uses of historical data

In 2010 The Bank of England produced a Quarterly Bulletin article on historical UK recessions using the Millennium Dataset which contains many charts of the data

• The UK recession in context - what do three centuries of data tell us? Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, 2010 Q4

The following titles are available to select in the dropdown menus of this section.

• Annual Abstract of Statistics (formerly Statistical Abstract of the United Kingdom), selected editions from 1842
• Bank of England Statistical Summaries 1920-1945
• Economic Trends monthly editions from 1989 to 2006. For individual Economic Trends articles from 1957 see the set currently available at Economic Trends Articles
• Economic Trends Annual Supplement from 1975 to 2006
• Economic and Labour Market Review 2007 to 2011
• London and Cambridge Economic Service Monthly Bulletins from 1923 to 1951
• Monthly Digest of Statistics from 1946 to 2010 (Jan and July editions only from 1979)

Please select a publication title and year from the boxes below to narrow down the list. Alternatively type in a general search term. The available excel and pdf files are shown in the table. If the publication you are looking for is not in this section please see the complete list of downloadable publications. 

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