“This Compendium of UK Statistics brings together comparable official statistics for the four nations of the UK. It has been produced to facilitate comparisons and is intended to help support key decisions such as the forthcoming Scottish referendum on independence which is due to take place on 18 September 2014. It follows on from the UK Statistics Authority report, ‘Official statistics in the context of the referendum on Scottish independence’, published in October 2013. This Compendium presents statistics within four themes: population and migration, economy, social indicators and environment. Each theme contains three sections:

• Main comparisons – a range of headline comparisons for the four nations,
• Find out more – some more detail on specific topic areas,
• Full data catalogue – links to any relevant data series with information on their comparability across the four nations.
• The compendium also includes some interactive content from the population and migration and economy themes. This includes interactive maps, showing data at lower geographical areas, and charts showing change over time.
• The statistics included here have been produced across the Government Statistical Service. All relevant Government Departments have been involved in the publication of this Compendium.
• The statistics in this compendium were updated to the latest available figures on 5 June 2014. The population estimates will be revised to the latest available figures on 26 June. There will be no further updates to other statistics within the compendium before 18 September 2014. Links to the latest available figures can be found in the data catalogue for each theme. “