This file contains the digital vector boundaries for the GEOSTAT grid in the UK as at 31 December 2011, as produced and supplied by Eurostat. The file was created as part of a ‘Pan-European' grid system. The grid contains 2011 Census data on total population and number of households for the United Kingdom and a break down by sex for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This data is provided on the basis of the previously released postcode information from the Census where each postcode (and its associated data) is allocated to the GEOSTAT grid on the basis of its grid reference (point-in-polygon). Using the previously published data has allowed the publication of small counts for grid cells that may previously have been suppressed if there was a risk of disclosure. The file is in GRE format (grid, extent), meaning that is grid formed of equally sized cells which extends beyond the coastline. It can be used to aggregate statistics to equally sized 'areas’. Please note that this product contains Eurostat, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and ONS Intellectual Property Rights. The services for the GEOSTAT Grids are published in the ETRS 1989 LAEA projection. As the file is not in the British National Grid (BNG) projection, it may not line up with other spatial datasets.