Buckinghamshire Council have published an insight report into what the 2025 release of the indices of deprivation means for Buckinghamshire. It includes insight into how Buckinghamshire ranks within the national picture and provides a local view on deprivation. The report can be accessed here.
At a headline level, the IoD2025 confirms Buckinghamshire’s status as one of the least deprived upper tier local authority areas in England, ranking 141st out of 153 by average score. However, relative deprivation has increased slightly since 2019, with a higher proportion of the population now falling into more deprived national quintiles, although a ‘higher’ deprivation ranking in the IoD2025 may partly reflect improved measurement techniques rather than solely local deterioration.
Key findings include:
- No Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in Buckinghamshire fall within the most deprived 10% nationally on the overall Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD2025).
- The Barriers to Housing and Services Domain is the county’s ‘weakest’, with 16.8% of Buckinghamshire’s population in the most deprived decile nationally.
- Nearly half of Buckinghamshire’s population are in the least deprived decile for Health Deprivation and Disability, and over a quarter are in the least deprived decile for the Employment and Income Domains.
- Buckinghamshire’s Opportunity Bucks programme continues to focus on the most deprived areas of the county; the top 10 most deprived LSOAs in Buckinghamshire are all within Opportunity Bucks wards.
The report concludes that while Buckinghamshire remains relatively affluent, the IoD2025 highlights the importance of targeted local analysis to identify pockets of deprivation, reduce inequalities and ensure equitable access to services and opportunities.
