Areas and zones data

Explore mapping data designed to provide information about areas used for administration and analysis

© Crown copyright and database rights. Ordnance Survey 2026

What is areas and zones data?

Areas and zones includes administrative, electoral and analytical boundaries, built-up and functional areas plus postcode data for Northern Ireland and Great Britain. It enables spatial analysis, policy development and demographic profiling.

Features of areas and zones data

Definitive boundary coverage

Access seamless mapping of administrative and electoral areas, enriched with Government Statistical Service (GSS) codes for statistical linkage and reporting.

Urban extents​

A consistent identification of built-up areas provides insights into developed land, supporting urban planning and policy analysis.

Postcode mapping

Visualise postcode points and areas to support geotargeting, asset management, and service delivery.

Boundary insights

Explore full boundary hierarchies from parish to country level, enriched boundary attributes such as borough status, and support advanced spatial analysis.

Sector-ready intelligence

From election planning and logistics, to policy analysis and public service delivery, areas and zones data supports a wide range of sectors with authoritative area-based data.

Retail areas

A consistent view of retail locations across Great Britain, including comparable data on where retail clusters exist and how they function.

Products offering these key features

This features table highlights which features are available in areas and zones products.

FeatureProducts
Administrative areas, e.g. county councils

OS Boundaries,
Boundary-Line

Electoral areas, e.g. Westminster constituencies

OS Boundaries, 
Boundary-Line

Built-up extents

OS Open Built Up Areas

Postcode points

Code-Point, 
Code-Point Open,
Code-Point with Polygons,
OS GB Postcodes,
OS NI Postcodes

Postcode areas

Code-Point with Polygons,
OS GB Postcodes

Retail areas

OS Functional Areas

Postcode statistics

Code-Point, 
Code-Point with Polygons,
OS GB Postcodes, 
OS NI Postcodes

Unique identifiers

OS Boundaries,
Boundary-Line,
Code-Point,
Code-Point Open,
Code-Point with Polygons, 
OS GB Postcodes,
OS NI Postcodes

The areas and zones products

  • OS Boundaries

    Access the administrative and electoral boundaries for England, Wales, and Scotland.

  • Boundary-Line

    Ordnance Survey's Boundary-Line is an open dataset of every administrative boundary in Great Britain.

  • OS Open Built Up Areas

    The statistical geographies used by Government departments to analyse census data, deliver on policy and improve services.

  • Code-Point

    Code-Point® is a postcode locator with postcode units in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

  • Code-Point Open

    Ordnance Survey's Code-Point Open is an open dataset of all the current postcode units in Great Britain.

  • Code-Point with Polygons

    Code-Point with Polygons shows the notional shape of every postcode unit in Great Britain including buildings with multiple postcodes.

  • OS Vector Tile API

    A vector tile service providing detailed Ordnance Survey data as a customisable basemap.

  • OS GB Postcodes

    A consistent view of postcode geography that aligns with real-world buildings and land parcels across Great Britain.

  • OS NI Postcodes

    A consistent view of postcode geography across Northern Ireland.

  • OS Functional Areas

    A view of retail geographies across Great Britain at local, regional and national scales.

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