📊 Data.gov.uk Scraper

Collect UK government open data effortlessly with our Data.gov.uk scraper. This tool automates the extraction of datasets, publishers, formats, and download links from the UK's official open data portal. Whether you're a researcher building a data catalog, a policy analyst tracking government publications, or a developer extracting UK open government datasets without coding, this scraper delivers complete dataset metadata in minutes.

The Data.gov.uk Scraper collects comprehensive UK government open data with up to 1,000,000 datasets, 11 fields per record, built-in OGL license filtering, and multi-format support.

✨ What Does It Do

• 📝 Dataset Title - Track official names of every dataset so you can identify and categorize government publications
• 🔗 Dataset URL - Capture direct links to each dataset page for tracking or reporting
• 👤 Publisher - Record which government agency published the data to analyze publication trends
• 📅 Last Updated - Monitor when datasets were last refreshed to assess currency and identify active publications
• 📊 Description - Access full dataset summaries to understand scope, coverage, and relevance
• 🎯 Topic - Filter datasets by classification to organize collections by subject domain
• 📦 Format - Identify available download formats to match your technical requirements
• 📜 License - Track licensing terms to verify usage rights
• 🌍 Download Links - Extract all resource URLs for direct access to actual data files
• 📍 Contact Information - Retrieve publisher contact details for data requests or clarifications
• ⏱️ Scraped Timestamp - Log extraction time for audit trails and data tracking

🔧 Input

• Start URL - Paste a direct link to a data.gov.uk search results page or dataset URL (example: https://www.data.gov.uk/search?q=economics). Use this or search filters below, not both
• Max Items - Number of datasets to collect. Free users: up to 100. Paid users: up to 1,000,000
• Search Query - Enter a keyword to search for datasets (example: "economics" or "housing"). Mutually exclusive with Start URL
• Publisher - Filter results by publisher name (example: "Office for National Statistics") to narrow your collection
• Topic - Select a category from the dropdown: Business and economy, Crime and justice, Education, Environment, Government, Government spending, Health, Mapping, Society, Towns and cities, or Transport
• Format - Choose a file format (CSV, JSON, XML, GeoJSON, PDF, etc.) to filter datasets by distribution type
• Open Government Licence (OGL) Only - Toggle this to include only datasets with Open Government Licence
• Sort By - Choose between "best" for relevance or "recent" for publication date

Example input:

{
  "searchQuery": "housing statistics",
  "publisher": "Office for National Statistics",
  "topic": "Housing",
  "format": "CSV",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "sort": "recent"
}

📊 Output

Each dataset includes up to 11 fields. Download as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

📝 Title	🔗 URL	👤 Publisher
📅 Last Updated	📊 Description	🎯 Topic
📦 Format	📜 License	🌍 Download Links
📍 Contact	🔗 Contact URL	⏱️ Scraped Date
❌ Error (if any)

💎 Why Choose the Data.gov.uk Scraper?

Feature	Our Actor	Similar Tools
Automated UK government data collection	✔️	❌
Dataset pagination and search support	✔️	Partial
OGL license filtering	✔️	❌
Multi-format support (CSV, JSON, XML, GeoJSON, etc.)	✔️	Partial
Publisher and topic filtering	✔️	❌
Direct download link extraction	✔️	❌
Contact information and metadata	✔️	❌
Free tier: up to 100 datasets	✔️	✔️
Paid tier: up to 1,000,000 datasets	✔️	❌
Real-time data collection with error handling	✔️	Partial

📋 How to Use

No technical skills required. Follow these simple steps:

1. Sign Up: Create a free account with $5 credit
2. Find the Tool: Search for "Data.gov.uk Scraper" in the Apify Store and configure your input
3. Run It: Click "Start" and watch your results appear

That's it. No coding, no setup, no complicated configuration. Export your data in CSV, Excel, or JSON format.

🎯 Business Use Cases

• 📊 Data Analyst - Search for housing statistics by region and export the latest datasets to track government publication frequency and identify new data sources
• 🏛️ Government Researcher - Monitor health and environmental datasets from the Office for National Statistics to build a catalog of recent UK government publications
• 💼 Business Intelligence Manager - Collect economic and business datasets with OGL licensing to compile a verified data library for your organization

❓ FAQ

🔍 How does this scraper work? The scraper searches data.gov.uk using your filters, then extracts dataset metadata including title, description, publisher, format, and download links. All data is publicly available and collected in real-time.

📊 Is the data accurate and up-to-date? Yes. The scraper collects data directly from data.gov.uk and includes the "Last Updated" timestamp for each dataset. Data accuracy depends on the UK government's own data maintenance, which is regularly updated.

📅 Can I schedule runs automatically? Yes. Apify supports scheduling. Set up daily, weekly, or custom runs to monitor new datasets or track changes to existing publications over time.

⚖️ Is scraping data.gov.uk legal? Yes. data.gov.uk is a public repository of open government data intended for broad use. Most datasets are released under the Open Government Licence (OGL) which permits commercial and research use. However, you are responsible for reviewing individual dataset licenses and complying with UK data protection laws and the terms of service.

🛡️ Will data.gov.uk block me? Unlikely. data.gov.uk is designed for public data access and does not have aggressive anti-bot protection. However, if you plan to collect large volumes (100,000+ items), we recommend using the paid tier with residential proxies to avoid rate limiting.

⚡ How long does a run take? Typical runs collect 10-50 datasets in 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on your search filters and item count. Larger collections (1,000+ items) may take 10-30 minutes. Response times from data.gov.uk may vary.

⚠️ Are there any limits? Free users can collect up to 100 results per run. Paid users can collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

🔗 Integrate Data.gov.uk Scraper with any app

• Make - Automate workflows
• Zapier - Connect 5000+ apps
• GitHub - Version control integration
• Slack - Get notifications
• Airbyte - Data pipelines
• Google Drive - Export to spreadsheets

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Browse our complete collection of data extraction tools for more.

🚀 Ready to Start?

Create a free account with $5 credit and collect your first 100 results for free. No coding, no setup.

🆘 Need Help?

• Check the FAQ section above for common questions
• Visit the Apify support page for documentation and tutorials
• Contact us to request a new scraper, propose a custom project, or report an issue at Tally contact form

⚠️ Disclaimer

This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the UK Cabinet Office, data.gov.uk, or any of their subsidiaries. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.