UK ONS MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server that provides access to UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. This enables AI assistants to retrieve and analyze official UK government statistics including economic indicators, population data, and social metrics.

Features

• 🔓 No API Key Required - Uses the free ONS Beta API
• 📊 Comprehensive Data Access - Economic, social, and demographic statistics
• 🔍 Smart Search - Find datasets by keyword or topic
• 📈 Real-time Data - Access the latest official UK statistics
• 🌐 Travel-Friendly - Perfect for UK travel apps needing area demographics

Available Tools

Dataset Discovery

• list_datasets() - Get all available datasets
• search_datasets(query) - Search datasets by keyword
• get_popular_datasets() - Get commonly used datasets

Dataset Information

• get_dataset_info(dataset_id) - Detailed dataset information
• get_dataset_editions(dataset_id) - Available editions
• get_dataset_download_url(dataset_id) - Download links

Data Access

• get_dataset_data(dataset_id) - Retrieve actual statistical data

Popular Datasets

• cpih01 - Consumer Price Inflation (CPI)
• lms - Labour Market Statistics
• regional-gdp-by-year - Regional GDP Data
• wellbeing-quarterly - National Well-being Indicators
• population-estimates-timeseries - Population Estimates
• house-prices - UK House Price Statistics
• retail-sales-index - Retail Sales Data
• uk-trade-info - International Trade Statistics

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9+
• uv (recommended) or pip

Install with npm and pip

git clone https://github.com/dwain-barnes/uk-ons-mcp-server.git
cd uk-ons-mcp-server
npm install
npm run install-deps

For development

npm run install-dev-deps

Usage

Running the Server

Development Mode

npm run dev

Production Mode

npm start

Testing

npm test

Claude Desktop Integration

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "uk-ons-statistics": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/path/to/uk-ons-mcp-server/uk_ons_mcp_server/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Using with MCP Inspector

Test the server during development:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector python uk_ons_mcp_server/server.py

Example Queries

Ask Claude these questions once connected:

• "What datasets are available about employment?"
• "Show me the latest inflation data"
• "Get population statistics for UK regions"
• "Find datasets related to housing"
• "What's the GDP data for different UK regions?"

API Reference

Data Source

All data comes from the official ONS Beta API:

• Base URL: https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1
• Authentication: None required
• Rate Limits: Reasonable usage (no official limits published)
• Documentation: https://developer.ons.gov.uk/

Error Handling

The server includes comprehensive error handling for:

• Network timeouts and connection issues
• Invalid dataset IDs or parameters
• API rate limiting (if implemented)
• Data parsing errors

Development

Setup Development Environment

git clone https://github.com/dwain-barnes/uk-ons-mcp-server.git
cd uk-ons-mcp-server
npm install
npm run install-dev-deps

Running Tests

npm test

Code Formatting

npm run format

Type Checking

npm run type-check

Linting

npm run lint

Project Structure

uk-ons-mcp-server/
├── uk_ons_mcp_server/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── server.py          # Main MCP server implementation
├── tests/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   └── test_server.py     # Unit tests
├── pyproject.toml         # Project configuration
├── README.md             # This file
├── LICENSE               # MIT License
└── .gitignore           # Git ignore patterns

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests for new functionality
5. Run the test suite (uv run pytest)
6. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
7. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
8. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• UK Office for National Statistics for providing free, open access to official statistics
• Model Context Protocol for the standardized AI integration framework
• Anthropic for developing MCP and Claude

Related Projects

• police-uk-api-mcp-server - UK Police data MCP server
• Model Context Protocol Servers - Official MCP server implementations

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial implementation and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the UK Office for National Statistics. All data remains subject to ONS terms of use.