Data Sources

Bolster provides standardised access to a range of Northern Ireland and UK government data sources. Each module follows the same conventions:

A top-level get_latest_*() function that downloads and returns a pandas.DataFrame ready for analysis.
Caching to ~/.cache/bolster/<source>/ to avoid repeated downloads.
A matching CLI command (bolster <command> --help).

NISRA 

The NI Statistics and Research Agency publishes a wide range of official statistics for Northern Ireland. All NISRA modules live under bolster.data_sources.nisra.

Births

Monthly birth registrations from 2006 to present, broken down by sex and by registration vs. occurrence date.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import births

df = births.get_latest_births(event_type="registration")

$ bolster nisra births

Deaths

Weekly death registrations with demographics, geography (Local Government Districts), and place-of-death breakdowns.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import deaths

df = deaths.get_latest_deaths(dimension="demographics")

$ bolster nisra deaths

Marriages

Monthly marriage registrations.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import marriages

df = marriages.get_latest_marriages()

$ bolster nisra marriages

Stillbirths

Monthly stillbirth registrations.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import stillbirths

df = stillbirths.get_latest_stillbirths()

$ bolster nisra stillbirths

Population

Annual mid-year population estimates by age, sex, and Local Government District.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import population

df = population.get_latest_population(area="Northern Ireland")

$ bolster nisra population

Population Projections

NI-level and LGD sub-area population projections (2024-based, 2024–2072).

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import population_projections

df = population_projections.get_latest_population_projections()

$ bolster nisra population-projections

Baby Names

Annual baby name registrations (1997–present) by sex and rank.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import baby_names

df = baby_names.get_latest_baby_names(sex="female")

$ bolster nisra baby-names

Migration

Official and derived migration estimates — demographic components of population change including natural change, net migration, and cross-border flows.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import migration

df = migration.get_latest_migration()

$ bolster nisra migration

Labour Market

Quarterly Labour Force Survey statistics: employment, economic inactivity, and unemployment rates for Northern Ireland.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import labour_market

df = labour_market.get_latest_employment()

$ bolster nisra labour-market

Claimant Count

Monthly UC+JSA claimant count statistics from DfC/ONS. NI headline back to April 1997, with LGD and SOA breakdowns.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import claimant_count

df = claimant_count.get_latest_claimant_count("headline")

$ bolster nisra claimant-count

Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

Employee earnings statistics for Northern Ireland, covering median weekly and hourly earnings, real earnings growth, occupation/industry breakdowns, and gender pay distribution (Figures 1–18).

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import ashe

df = ashe.get_latest_ashe_timeseries("weekly")

$ bolster nisra ashe

Quarterly Employment Survey

Employee jobs by sector from Q1 1998 to present, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import quarterly_employment_survey

df = quarterly_employment_survey.get_latest_qes()

$ bolster nisra quarterly-employment-survey

Composite Economic Index (NICEI)

The headline experimental quarterly economic indicator for Northern Ireland.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import composite_index

df = composite_index.get_latest_nicei()

$ bolster nisra composite-index

Index of Production / Services

Quarterly Index of Production (IOP) and Index of Services (IOS) for NI.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import index_of_production, index_of_services

df_prod = index_of_production.get_latest_iop()
df_serv = index_of_services.get_latest_ios()

$ bolster nisra index-of-production
$ bolster nisra index-of-services

Construction Output

Quarterly construction output statistics — all work, new work, and repair & maintenance.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import construction_output

df = construction_output.get_latest_construction_output()

$ bolster nisra construction-output

Business Register (IDBR)

NI Business Register (IDBR) — annual VAT/PAYE business counts by industry, legal status, and Local Government District.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import business_register

df = business_register.get_latest_data()

$ bolster nisra business-register

Planning Statistics

NI Planning Activity Statistics — quarterly applications, approvals, and refusals by council.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import planning_statistics

df = planning_statistics.get_latest_planning_statistics()

$ bolster nisra planning-statistics

Deprivation (NIMDM 2017)

NI Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 — SOA-level overall and domain deprivation ranks for 890 Super Output Areas.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import deprivation

df = deprivation.get_latest_data()
# Columns: soa_code, soa_name, mdm_rank, income_rank, employment_rank, ...

$ bolster nisra deprivation

Housing Stock

NI Housing Stock Statistics (DoF/LPS) — annual counts of residential properties by type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flat) and Local Government District.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import housing_stock

df = housing_stock.get_latest_data()

$ bolster nisra housing-stock

Wellbeing

Individual wellbeing statistics from the NI Wellbeing Dashboard — life satisfaction, happiness, anxiety, and loneliness.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import wellbeing

df = wellbeing.get_latest_personal_wellbeing()

$ bolster nisra wellbeing

Public Confidence in Official Statistics

Public Awareness of and Trust in Official Statistics (PCOS) — awareness and trust indicators back to 2009.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import public_confidence

df = public_confidence.get_latest_data()

$ bolster nisra public-confidence

Registrar General Quarterly Tables

Quarterly births, deaths, marriages, and LGD breakdowns.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra import registrar_general

data = registrar_general.get_quarterly_vital_statistics()
# data is a dict with keys: 'births', 'deaths', 'lgd'

$ bolster nisra registrar-general

Tourism — Occupancy

Monthly hotel and guest accommodation occupancy rates.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra.tourism import occupancy

df = occupancy.get_latest_hotel_occupancy()

$ bolster nisra occupancy

Tourism — Visitor Statistics

Quarterly visitor numbers and spend.

from bolster.data_sources.nisra.tourism import visitor_statistics

df = visitor_statistics.get_latest_visitor_statistics()

$ bolster nisra visitors

Department of Health NI (health_ni)

The Department of Health publishes health and social care statistics for Northern Ireland. All health_ni modules live under bolster.data_sources.health_ni.

Cancer Waiting Times

14-day, 31-day, and 62-day cancer referral-to-treatment waiting times by tumour type and HSC Trust. Data via PxStat.

from bolster.data_sources.health_ni import cancer_waiting_times

df = cancer_waiting_times.get_latest_62_day_by_tumour()

$ bolster nisra cancer-waiting-times

Diagnostic Waiting Times

Diagnostic waiting times by test type and HSC Trust. Data via PxStat DWT matrix.

from bolster.data_sources.health_ni import diagnostic_waiting_times

df = diagnostic_waiting_times.get_latest_diagnostic_waiting_times()

$ bolster nisra diagnostic-waiting-times

Elective Waiting Times

Inpatient/day-case and outpatient referrals waiting by weeks-waited band, specialty, and HSC Trust. Covers pre-encompass (legacy PAS) and encompass (new EPR system from December 2023) data series.

from bolster.data_sources.health_ni import elective_waiting_times

df = elective_waiting_times.get_latest_elective_waiting_times()

$ bolster nisra elective-waiting-times

Emergency Care Waiting Times

Monthly A&E attendance and 4-hour target performance by HSC Trust and hospital department.

from bolster.data_sources.health_ni import emergency_care_waiting_times

df = emergency_care_waiting_times.get_latest_data()

$ bolster nisra emergency-care

Disease Prevalence

NI disease register statistics at NI, LGD, HSCT, and GP-practice level. Covers 17 disease categories including hypertension, diabetes, and COPD.

from bolster.data_sources.health_ni import disease_prevalence

# NI-level summary
df = disease_prevalence.get_latest_disease_prevalence(level="ni")

# GP-practice level (~360 practices, ~17 financial years)
gp_df = disease_prevalence.get_latest_gp_prevalence()

$ bolster nisra disease-prevalence
$ bolster nisra disease-prevalence --level gp

Child Protection

NI child protection registrations, de-registrations, and case conference statistics from the Department of Health.

from bolster.data_sources.health_ni import child_protection

df = child_protection.get_latest_child_protection()

$ bolster nisra child-protection

PSNI 

The Police Service of Northern Ireland publishes open-data releases covering crime, road safety, and police activity. All PSNI modules live under bolster.data_sources.psni.

Crime Statistics

Historical monthly crime statistics broken down by offence type, district command unit, and outcome. Note: the most recent 12-month period is not published in the open-data release; use get_historical_crime_statistics() for reliable data.

from bolster.data_sources.psni import crime_statistics

df = crime_statistics.get_historical_crime_statistics()

$ bolster psni crime

Road Traffic Collisions

Annual road traffic collision data with casualty severity and road type.

from bolster.data_sources.psni import road_traffic_collisions

df = road_traffic_collisions.get_latest_collisions()

$ bolster psni rtc

Stop and Search

PSNI stop & search records from OpenDataNI; 199,661 records covering 2017/18–2024/25 with PACE reason flags, legislation, and demographic breakdowns.

from bolster.data_sources.psni import stop_and_search

df = stop_and_search.get_latest_stop_and_search()

$ bolster psni stop-and-search

PACE Statistics

Annual PSNI PACE statistics — monthly stop & search by reason and quarterly arrests by gender and category, back to 2013/14.

from bolster.data_sources.psni import pace

df_searches = pace.get_latest_pace_stop_and_search()
df_arrests  = pace.get_latest_pace_arrests()

$ bolster psni pace

Police Ombudsman

Annual and quarterly Police Ombudsman complaint statistics — complaints by district, allegation type, and outcome back to 2000/01.

from bolster.data_sources.psni import police_ombudsman

df = police_ombudsman.get_latest_complaints()

$ bolster psni police-ombudsman

DVA — Driver and Vehicle Agency 

Monthly test statistics from the NI Driver and Vehicle Agency.

from bolster.data_sources import dva

vehicles = dva.get_vehicle_test_statistics()
drivers  = dva.get_driver_test_statistics()
theory   = dva.get_theory_test_statistics()

$ bolster dva vehicle-tests
$ bolster dva driver-tests
$ bolster dva theory-tests

NI Water 

Drinking water quality data for all NI supply zones.

from bolster.data_sources.ni_water import get_water_quality, get_water_quality_by_zone

df = get_water_quality()
zone = get_water_quality_by_zone("BALM")  # Belfast Malone

$ bolster water-quality --postcode "BT1 1AA"

NI Assembly (AIMS)

NI Assembly AIMS data — Members of the Legislative Assembly, oral/written questions, and assembly votes.

from bolster.data_sources import niassembly

members = niassembly.get_members()
questions = niassembly.get_questions(member_id=123)
votes = niassembly.get_votes()

$ bolster niassembly members
$ bolster niassembly questions
$ bolster niassembly votes

EONI — Electoral Office for Northern Ireland 

NI Assembly election results (2016 and 2022).

from bolster.data_sources.eoni import get_results

df_2022 = get_results(2022)
df_2016 = get_results(2016)

$ bolster ni-elections 2022

NI House Price Index 

Standardised house price index for Northern Ireland.

from bolster.data_sources.ni_house_price_index import build

df = build()

$ bolster ni-house-prices

Justice — NICTS 

NI Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) statistics.

Mortgage Possession Actions

Quarterly mortgage possession actions (applications, orders, and warrants) by court district.

from bolster.data_sources import justice

df = justice.get_latest_mortgage_possession_actions()

$ bolster justice mortgage-possession

Translink 

Live and scheduled bus and rail departures, and vehicle positions, for the Translink NI public transport network.

from bolster.data_sources import translink

# Next departures from a stop (by name)
df = translink.get_departures_by_name("Europa Buscentre")

# Live vehicle positions
vehicles = translink.get_live_vehicles()

$ bolster translink departures "Europa Buscentre"
$ bolster translink vehicles

ONS — Office for National Statistics 

ONS UK-wide statistical releases relevant to Northern Ireland.

CPI / CPIH / RPI Inflation

Annual rates and price indices for CPI, CPIH, and RPI from ONS.

from bolster.data_sources import ons_cpi

df = ons_cpi.get_latest_cpi()

$ bolster ons-cpi

Bank of England 

Bank of England official Bank Rate (base rate) from 1694 to present.

from bolster.data_sources import boe_base_rate

df = boe_base_rate.get_latest_base_rate()

$ bolster boe-base-rate

Companies House 

UK Companies House public data — basic company details and registered companies connected to a given address.

from bolster.data_sources.companies_house import query_basic_company_data

details = query_basic_company_data("12345678")

$ bolster companies-house --query "Farset Labs"

Gender Pay Gap 

UK Gender Pay Gap reporting data from 2017 to present (all employers with 250+ employees).

from bolster.data_sources import gender_pay_gap

df = gender_pay_gap.get_gender_pay_gap_data()

$ bolster gender-pay-gap

Met Office 

UK precipitation maps from the Met Office DataPoint API.

Requires the environment variable MET_OFFICE_API_KEY.

from bolster.data_sources.metoffice import get_uk_precipitation

img = get_uk_precipitation(order_name="my-order")

$ bolster get-precipitation --order-name "my-order"

Wikipedia 

Structured data from NI-related Wikipedia tables (e.g. the NI Executive composition table).

from bolster.data_sources.wikipedia import get_ni_executive_basic_table

df = get_ni_executive_basic_table()

$ bolster ni-executive

Discovering New Publications 

NISRA publishes new datasets regularly. Use the RSS feed integration to discover publications before they are implemented as modules:

$ bolster nisra feed --limit 20

Or programmatically:

from bolster.utils.rss import get_nisra_statistics_feed

feed = get_nisra_statistics_feed(limit=20)
for entry in feed.entries:
    print(entry.published.date(), entry.title)