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Indices of Deprivation 2025
The English Indices of Deprivation, published since 2000, are a set of measures that score and rank every small area in England by relative deprivation. These indices help government, local authorities, and organisations identify areas that may need extra support or resources.
The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is the primary and most widely used measure within the Indices of Deprivation. As the seven domains of deprivation are weighted and combined into a single score (see the infographic below for weightings). IMD is often used for funding decisions, policy targeting, and research because it provides an overall picture of deprivation.
You can use the tool below to explore the 2025 Indices of deprivation covering the relative measures of deprivation for small areas (Lower-layer Super Output Areas) across England, based on:
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- Income Deprivation
- Employment Deprivation
- Education, Skills and Training Deprivation
- Health and Disability Deprivation
- Crime Deprivation
- Barriers to Housing and Services Deprivation
- Living Environment Deprivation
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There are also Two supplementary indices available for;
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- Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI)
- Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI)
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The deciles showing on this interactive tool from Gov.uk have been calculated by ranking the 33,755 neighbourhoods in England from most deprived to least deprived and dividing them into 10 equal groups (i.e. each containing 3,375 or 3,376 neighbourhoods). These deciles range from the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods nationally to the least deprived 10% of neighbourhoods nationally.
If you are interested in seeing the deprivation scores for a specific LSOA you can do so by using a postcode within that LSOA to explore Local Deprivation information .
Interpretation & Caveats
Relative Measure: The Indices of Deprivation are relative – they show how areas compare to each other at a point in time. They do not measure absolute levels of deprivation or poverty, nor do they show how much deprivation has changed in absolute terms.
Major Methodological Updates: The overall domain structure and weighting remain unchanged from 2019, supporting broad comparability. However, the number of indicators has risen from 39 to 55, with 20 new and 14 significantly enhanced indicators. Many data sources have been refreshed or replaced, and some domains- such as Income – have seen major methodological changes (e.g. assessing income after housing costs, rather than before housing costs as in previous releases). Domains like Crime, Barriers to Housing & Services, and Living Environment have expanded with new indicators (e.g. anti-social behaviour, broadband connectivity, GP ratio, energy performance, outdoor space, noise pollution). Changes in indicators mean that trends between 2019 and 2025 may reflect methodological updates rather than genuine differences and should therefore be interpreted with caution.
Geographical Changes: The number of Local Authority areas has changed between 2019 and 2025 from 317 in 2019 to 296 in 2025, and the 2025 indices use updated 2021 LSOA boundaries. About 6% of LSOA boundaries have changed. This affects direct trend comparisons, as some areas may have been split, merged, or had their boundaries redrawn.
Domain Currency Varies: Not all indicators within each domain are from the same year. Some use the most recent data available, while others rely on earlier sources (e.g. Census 2021 for some indicators). This means that the “currency” of data varies across domains and even within domains.
If you want to read a short brief giving information about the changes that have taken place you can See the English deprivation data in 2025: What has changed? published by the House of Commons Library, or for a more detailed explanation of the changes See the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 Technical Report.
Borough Infographic
Borough Level Findings
Wandsworth ranks 193rd of 296 local authorities in England in 2025, placing it in the least deprived 35% nationally – a relative improvement from 2019, when it was around the 46th percentile.
The borough is among the least deprived local authorities in England for five of seven domains: Income; Employment; Education, Skills & Training, Health Deprivation & Disability; Barriers to Housing & Services).
Wandsworth ranks in the least deprived 4% nationally for Education, Skills & Training.
The borough’s relative ranking has improved across several domains including: Employment, Health Deprivation & Disability, Barriers to Housing & Services and Crime. Despite the improvement in Crime, the borough still sits within the 50% most deprived local authorities nationally for this domain. The upward movement in Barriers to Housing & Services and Crime reflects a wider trend across London boroughs but notably, Wandsworth’s improved ranking in Employment and Health are among the largest in London, bucking the regional trend.
In 2025, Wandsworth is among the 10 most deprived local authorities nationally for the Living Environment domain – a pattern seen across much of London. Within London, it is the fourth most deprived borough for this domain.
Methodological changes are likely to have contributed to the changes above as the Crime, Barriers to Housing & Services and Living Environment domains have all undergone major changes to indicators.
Despite a slight improvement in relative rank, Wandsworth is still just within the 50% most deprived nationally for the Income of Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) – the average score for the borough indicates that 35% of children are affected by income deprivation.
For the Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI), Wandsworth’s relative rank was stable between 2019 and 2025 – the average score indicates that 27% of older people in the borough are affected by income deprivation.
It’s important to note that scores for the Income domain, IDACI, and IDAOPI have been impacted by methodological changes: the income threshold and assessment are now based on an After Housing Costs (AHC) approach, rather than the Before Housing Costs (BHC) approach used in previous releases.
LSOA Level Findings
The Index of Multiple Deprivation is designed to better distinguish between deprived areas than between affluent ones. For this reason, analysis focuses on changes at the more deprived end of the scale.
Similarly to 2019, no Wandsworth LSOAs were ranked amongst the 10% most deprived in England for the IMD.
72% of Wandsworth LSOAs are in the least deprived half nationally in 2025 – compared to 62% in 2019.
42% of LSOAs have moved into a higher decile (i.e. rank as less deprived), reflecting a general reduction in deprived clusters – especially in areas like Nine Elms (major regeneration), South Balham, West Putney, and St. Mary’s. Notably, 22 LSOAs that were previously in the 50% most deprived nationally are now in the 50% least deprived.
14% (26 LSOAs) have moved into a more deprived decile. In four LSOAs in the Tooting/Furzedown area, this means shifting from the least deprived half to the most deprived half nationally.
Other areas with LSOAs moving to more deprived deciles include Roehampton, West Hill, and Lavender/Northcote.