The statistics office launches experimental analysis tracking how footfall changed in towns between 2024 and 2025.
The Office for National Statistics has turned to your mobile phone data to understand how Britain’s towns are faring. The government’s statistics body is using anonymised information from O2’s mobile network to track visitor numbers across towns in England and Wales between 2024 and 2025.
How Your Phone Helps Track Town Centre Health
The experimental analysis uses O2 Motion – Virgin Media O2 Business’s anonymised mobility service that tracks where people go based on mobile network signals. About 35% of the UK population uses O2, and statisticians scale this data up to represent everyone’s movements.
Your evening trip to Canterbury high street or weekend visit to Maidstone becomes part of a bigger picture. The ONS has made Virgin Media O2 Business its strategic partner for mobility data, feeding weekly updates into the government’s Integrated Data Service.
This isn’t just academic number-crunching. The data reveals some stark trends that’ll sound familiar to anyone who’s noticed quieter town centres lately.
The Changing Face of British Towns
Morning commuter trips to major towns and cities rose by 1% in early 2025 compared to 2024. But evening visits – those after-work shopping trips and social outings between 4pm and midnight – dropped by 3%.
The retail picture looks even more challenging. Daytime trips to shopping areas fell by 8% in the first months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Cost-of-living pressures and the shift to online shopping are leaving their mark on high streets.
Travel disruption hasn’t helped either. With over 20 days of strikes hitting Britain’s transport network in 2025, three-quarters of people reported being affected by travel chaos.
Government’s Data Revolution
This town visitor mapping is part of a broader government push to use real-time data for policy decisions. Eighteen public sector organisations tested population movement data through the Government Digital Service’s Innovation Sandbox programme.
The approach promises more responsive policymaking – understanding which town centres are thriving or struggling almost as it happens, rather than waiting months for traditional survey results.
Privacy safeguards are built in, officials stress. The data is anonymised and aggregated, governed by UK data protection law and the ONS’s statistical code of practice.
What This Means for Kent Residents
Kent towns including Canterbury, Maidstone, Ashford and Dover are likely featured in the ONS interactive map, giving residents and businesses unprecedented insight into local footfall trends. You can explore how visitor numbers to your nearest town centre have changed by accessing the ONS dashboard online. Local councils could use these insights to adjust everything from evening bus services to high street regeneration plans, as businesses might reconsider opening hours based on when people actually visit town centres.
Source: @ONS