England and Wales Country (Dep) : Simplified Industrial Structure (5-way)

Simplified Industrial Structure (5-way)

Data cube chart.

Year Agriculture Mining Manufacturing Util+Const+Transp Services
1841 1,220,798 Show data context 190,188 Show data context 1,804,641 Show data context 500,370 Show data context 1,723,674 Show data context
1861 1,544,254 Show data context 272,253 Show data context 2,444,094 Show data context 835,912 Show data context 2,068,783 Show data context
1881 1,097,879 Show data context 450,647 Show data context 3,302,848 Show data context 1,294,181 Show data context 3,228,071 Show data context
1911 1,271,254 Show data context 1,005,337 Show data context 5,351,558 Show data context 2,471,564 Show data context 5,962,744 Show data context
1931 990,889 Show data context 929,460 Show data context 5,377,558 Show data context 2,412,749 Show data context 6,903,487 Show data context
1951 957,389 Show data context 741,380 Show data context 7,230,670 Show data context 3,107,886 Show data context 7,842,890 Show data context
1971 499,219 Show data context 349,378 Show data context 6,824,446 Show data context 3,195,950 Show data context 9,211,464 Show data context
1991 387,455 Show data context 121,288 Show data context 4,384,316 Show data context 3,043,909 Show data context 13,106,730 Show data context
2001 361,150 Show data context 59,671 Show data context 3,534,233 Show data context 3,426,884 Show data context 16,245,976 Show data context
2011 227,286 Show data context 46,478 Show data context 2,369,998 Show data context 3,695,212 Show data context 20,187,362 Show data context
2021 237,014 Show data context 42,769 Show data context 2,039,938 Show data context 4,153,305 Show data context 21,300,869 Show data context
Date Source
1841 1841 Census of Great Britain, Occupations, Table [1] , 'Occupation Abstract'
1861 1861 Census of England and Wales, Ages, Table 17 , 'Occupations of Males aged 20 Years and upwards in Districts'
1881 Great Britain Historical GIS Project Computed from 1881 microdata
1911 1911 Census of England and Wales, Occupations Vol 1, Table 15 A, 'Grouped occupations of Males and Females aged 10 years and upwards, in Administrative Counties, County Boroughs, Metropolitan Boroughs, Urban Districts of which the population exceeded 5,000 persons, aggregates of other Urban Districts, and aggregates of Rural Districts; also proportion per 1,000 of unmarried, married, widowed, and of married and widowed women engaged in occupations, and proportion of female domestic servants to separate occupiers or families, 1911 - Males'
1931 1931 Census of England and Wales, Industry, Table 3 , 'Industries (condensed list) of Males and Females (exclusive of persons out of work)'
1951 1951 Census of England and Wales, Industry, Table 3 , 'Industries (Orders and Selected Units) and Status Aggregates. Occupied Males and Females aged 15 and over', for 'Urban Areas with population of less than 50,000, RD, NT'
1971 1971 Census of England and Wales, Economic activity County Leaflets, Table 3 , 'Industry and status by area of workplace and sex', for 'County, county boroughs, urban areas with populations of 50,000 or more, conurbation centres'
1991 Census of Population
2001 Office for National Statistics, NOMIS - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (Table UV034, Industry (17 way))
2011 Office for National Statistics, NOMIS - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (Table KS605UK - Industry)
2021 Office for National Statistics, ONS "Create a Custom Dataset" ("Industry (current)" (19 way))

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nCube definition


This very simplified view of the changing industrial base of communities does identify the traditional sectors of Agriculture, Mining and Manufacturing which dominated many areas in the nineteenth century, but provides no breakdown of the service sector, in which the large majority of us now work.


How to reference this page:

GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, England and Wales Country (Dep) through time | Historical Statistics on Industry | Simplified Industrial Structure (5-way), A Vision of Britain through Time.

URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10001043/cube/IND_SECTOR_5WAY

Date accessed: 09th April 2026