Lower Super Output Areas

The geographic areas used in the calculation of WIMD 2014 are the 1,909 Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs). LSOAs were used as the geographic unit in WIMD 2005, 2008 and 2011, and were designed for the reporting of small area statistics. The other three UK nations also calculate their indexes at the LSOA geographical unit.

A Lower Layer SOA must have a minimum population of 1,000. The mean size of all the Lower Layer SOAs must be close to 1,600. They are built from groups of Census Output Areas (usually between four and six).

Last Modified: 13/09/2022
For more information contact:

Research Team

Tel: 01495 766259

Email: research@torfaen.gov.uk

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