Index of Deprivation

Central Government has used several versions of a composite index of deprivation since 1984 to help it distribute funding nationwide to deprived areas. These indices combine several measures of social and economic need together to provide an overall measure of multiple-deprivation in the area.

Five such indices have been used during the last twenty years to paint a picture of deprivation in the country at that particular time; as each new index was announced it immediately replaced its predecessor as the 'official' government measure of need within local communities.

It was not until 2000 and the introduction of the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000 (IMD2000), however, that these composite measures began to adequately capture the true socio-economic conditions in County Durham particularly with regard to worklessness - through long-term limiting illness and other factors - and economic inactivity in general.

The IMD2000 itself was revised by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) with updated and additional data in the report called the Index of Deprivation 2004 (ID2004). Another improvement on the previous indices is that the ID2004 utilised the newly defined ONS Super Output Areas (SOA) as its primary reporting geography rather than electoral wards. Since SOA's are generally much smaller than wards this allows for much smaller pockets of deprivation to be identified by the Index than was previously the case using wards.

This year a further update has been released for 2007 (ID2007) which means it is now possible to assess relative changes in local conditions over the time period 2002 – 2005.

With the release of each new index, officers of the County Council prepare summary reports and charts for elected members detailing the implications of the new measure for County Durham. These reports can be accessed through the links below. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this information.

The Index Family

Index of Deprivation 2007
Index of Deprivation 2004
Index of Deprivation 2000

Interactive Reports

To further enhance this information an interactive report has been created using an application called InstantAtlas combining data from the ID2004 and ID2007. This report and others are available on the InstantAtlas Interactive Reports page.

Information on Super Output Areas is available from the Office of National Statistics website.

For further information please email the Corporate Research and Information team or telephone 0191 3834340.