United Kingdom: data.gov.uk
Official portal: data.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)Why snapshot data?Open-data catalogue totals are dynamic measurements rather than fixed statistics. OpenDataScope therefore uses a timestamped research snapshot as its canonical analytical dataset. Later official-page readings are retained as validation evidence and demonstrate normal catalogue drift over time.Research snapshot: 8 October 2026, 22:21–23:03 UTC9 October 2026, 00:21–01:03 in Skopje (UTC+2)Live portals can change after the research snapshot.How the snapshot was taken
Catalogue size
Partially comparableSimilar idea, but definitions or units differ.Units differ between portals; this count is comparable only in scale.Catalogue size (canonical count)
59,491directory records
Later validation reading: 59,495 records (+4, +0.007 %) on 9 Oct 2026
- Unit
- The United Kingdom counts directory records that link to data hosted elsewhere.
- Count definition
- Public CKAN packages in the data.gov.uk directory
- Snapshot layer and time
- S1 · 2026-10-08 22:21:29 UTC
- Comparability note
- Records link to data hosted elsewhere; GDS reports >=25% broken links
At a glance
Listed organisations
1,044organisations
Share held by the five largest publishers
37.4 %
Records with any licence identifier
22,352directory records
Distinct free-text format labels
353raw labels
Publishers and organisations
1,176 owners of indexed records (1,044 listed)
Active means owning at least one record; the UK, US and MK definitions are close but not identical.
147 indexed owners are missing from the list; 15 listed organisations own no record
Themes
14 directory topics and 6 curated collections; counts not collected
National topic scheme, not the EU vocabulary.
No cross-country theme mapping is used where a reliable taxonomy crosswalk is unavailable. North Macedonia is compared only with the EU portal, which uses the same EU data-theme vocabulary; the other national portals keep their own category schemes.
Access and reuse
| Feature | United Kingdomdata.gov.uk |
|---|---|
| API availability | Available CKAN Action API, no key Directly comparableSame or closely comparable unit and query.Whether a public metadata API exists is the same yes/no question everywhere; API types differ. |
| Machine-readable formats | Not collected Format shares not collected; the format facet holds 353 free-text labels |
| Metadata standard | Not reliably available No metadata standard documented |
| Licensing information | Limited 37.6 % of records have any license_id; licences may sit in other fields Partially comparableSimilar idea, but definitions or units differ.Counts any licence id, not only open licences. |
| HVD information | Not applicable EU High-Value Datasets rules do not apply |
| Publisher information | Available 1,176 owners of indexed records (1,044 listed) Partially comparableSimilar idea, but definitions or units differ.Active means owning at least one record; the UK, US and MK definitions are close but not identical. |
| Metadata activity | Available 53.0 % of records Directly comparableSame or closely comparable unit and query.Same CKAN metadata_modified query on North Macedonia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. |
United Kingdomdata.gov.uk
- API availability
- Available
CKAN Action API, no key
Directly comparableSame or closely comparable unit and query.Whether a public metadata API exists is the same yes/no question everywhere; API types differ. - Machine-readable formats
- Not collected
Format shares not collected; the format facet holds 353 free-text labels
- Metadata standard
- Not reliably available
No metadata standard documented
- Licensing information
- Limited
37.6 % of records have any license_id; licences may sit in other fields
Partially comparableSimilar idea, but definitions or units differ.Counts any licence id, not only open licences. - HVD information
- Not applicable
EU High-Value Datasets rules do not apply
- Publisher information
- Available
1,176 owners of indexed records (1,044 listed)
Partially comparableSimilar idea, but definitions or units differ.Active means owning at least one record; the UK, US and MK definitions are close but not identical. - Metadata activity
- Available
53.0 % of records
Directly comparableSame or closely comparable unit and query.Same CKAN metadata_modified query on North Macedonia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Validation readings
Validation readings: 9 October 2026, before 11:13 UTC. Canonical values keep the main position; later readings are validation evidence, and earlier readings are superseded.
| Reading | Visible value | Kind | Reading time | Difference from canonical | Note | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| records | 59,495 | Later validation reading | 9 Oct 2026, after S2 and before 11:13 UTC (exact capture time not recorded) | +4 (+0.007 %) | No note | |
| organization_list | HTTP 504 Gateway Time-out | Later validation reading | 9 Oct 2026, after S2 and before 11:13 UTC (exact capture time not recorded) | Not applicable | Timeout, not missing data; S1 organisation figures kept |
Validation readings: United Kingdom
records
- Visible value
- 59,495
- Kind
- Later validation reading
- Reading time
- 9 Oct 2026, after S2 and before 11:13 UTC (exact capture time not recorded)
- Difference from canonical
- +4 (+0.007 %)
- Note
- No note
- Record
organization_list
- Visible value
- HTTP 504 Gateway Time-out
- Kind
- Later validation reading
- Reading time
- 9 Oct 2026, after S2 and before 11:13 UTC (exact capture time not recorded)
- Difference from canonical
- Not applicable
- Note
- Timeout, not missing data; S1 organisation figures kept
- Record
Comparability notes
- Count definition
- Public CKAN packages in the data.gov.uk directory
- Includes non-open records
- Not documented by the portal.
- Comparability note
- Records link to data hosted elsewhere; GDS reports >=25% broken links
Sources
data.gov.uk package_search with facets
data.gov.uk (CKAN API) · API snapshot · S1 · Records, owners, licence ids, format labels
data.gov.uk organization_list
data.gov.uk (CKAN API) · API snapshot · S1 · Listed organisations
data.gov.uk package_search, metadata modified in 365 days
data.gov.uk (CKAN API) · API snapshot · S1 · Metadata activity
data.europa.eu search API, datasets with facets
data.europa.eu · API snapshot · S1 · Aggregated records, HVD, themes, provenance, catalogue copies
data.gov.uk package_search
data.gov.uk · Manual screenshot (validation) · V (later reading) · Validation
data.gov.uk organization_list (HTTP 504)
data.gov.uk · Manual screenshot (validation) · V (later reading) · Validation (timeout)
data.gov.uk API guidance
Government Digital Service · Documentation · Docs · API access
GDS blog post on data.gov.uk link quality
Government Digital Service · Documentation · Docs · At least 25 % broken links
OpenDataScope Final Phase 1 Research Report (sections A3, D)
OpenDataScope project · Report · Docs · Access-matrix facts whose underlying document was not itemised
Internal project document