Data.gov.uk Scraper

🚀 Streamline your UK open data research with our comprehensive Data.gov.uk scraper! Automate daily collection of detailed dataset information from the UK government's open data portal.

This powerful tool extracts complete dataset metadata, publishers, formats, topics, and download links from data.gov.uk - the UK government's official open data portal. Perfect for researchers, data analysts, developers, and government contractors who need accurate, up-to-date UK government data intelligence without manual work.

Target Audience: Researchers, data analysts, developers, government contractors, policy researchers, and data journalists
Primary Use Cases: Market research, policy analysis, data discovery, competitive intelligence, and research automation

What Does Data.gov.uk Scraper Do?

This tool collects comprehensive dataset information from data.gov.uk, supporting both direct URL scraping and advanced search filtering. It delivers:

• Dataset Titles - Complete names and titles of all datasets
• Publisher Information - Which government department or organization published each dataset
• Last Updated Dates - When datasets were last modified
• Descriptions - Detailed descriptions of what each dataset contains
• Topics - Categorization (Business and economy, Crime and justice, Education, Environment, etc.)
• Formats - Available data formats (CSV, JSON, XML, PDF, etc.)
• Licenses - Open Government License (OGL) and other licensing information
• Download Links - Direct links to download the actual data files
• Contact Information - Contact details and enquiry links for each dataset
• URLs - Direct links to each dataset page
• And more

Business Value: This data helps researchers discover relevant government datasets quickly, track updates to datasets of interest, analyze government data publishing patterns, and build comprehensive databases of UK open data resources.

How to use the Data.gov.uk Scraper - Full Demo

[YouTube video embed or link]

Watch this 3-minute demo to see how easy it is to get started!

Input

To start Data.gov.uk web scraping, you can configure the scraper in two ways:

Option 1: Direct URL Scraping

Provide one or more direct URLs to dataset pages you want to scrape:

• startUrl - Enter the full URL(s) of dataset pages from data.gov.uk (e.g., https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/economic-review)

Option 2: Search Filters

Use search filters to find and scrape datasets based on criteria:

• searchQuery - Enter keywords to search for (e.g., "economics", "transport", "health")
• publisher - Filter by specific government department or organization
• topic - Filter by topic category (Business and economy, Crime and justice, Education, Environment, Government, Government spending, Health, Mapping, Society, Towns and cities, Transport)
• format - Filter by data format (CSV, JSON, XML, PDF, etc.)
• oglOnly - Set to true to only get datasets with Open Government License
• sort - Sort results by "best" match or "recent" updates
• maxItems - Maximum number of datasets to collect (required for free users, optional for paid users)

Here's what the input configuration looks like in JSON:

Example 1: Direct URL

{
    "startUrl": [
        "https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/economic-review",
        "https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/regional-economic-indicators"
    ],
    "maxItems": 10
}

Example 2: Search Query

{
    "searchQuery": "economics",
    "sort": "best",
    "maxItems": 50
}

Example 3: Advanced Search with Filters

{
    "searchQuery": "transport",
    "publisher": "Department for Transport",
    "topic": "Transport",
    "format": "CSV",
    "oglOnly": true,
    "sort": "recent",
    "maxItems": 100
}

Output

After the Actor finishes its run, you'll get a dataset with the output. The length of the dataset depends on the amount of results you've set. You can download those results as an Excel, HTML, XML, JSON, and CSV document.

Here's an example of scraped Data.gov.uk data you'll get:

{
    "title": "Economic Review",
    "url": "https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/economic-review",
    "publisher": "Office for National Statistics",
    "lastUpdated": "2016-12-06",
    "description": "Economic commentary on the latest GDP estimate and other ONS economic releases.",
    "topic": "Business and economy",
    "format": "HTML",
    "license": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
    "downloadLinks": [
        "https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/economic-review/download"
    ],
    "contact": "Enquiries: Information Management (https://www.data.gov.uk/publisher/...) | Freedom of Information (FOI) requests: Information Management (https://www.data.gov.uk/...)",
    "contactUrl": {
        "enquiries": "https://www.data.gov.uk/publisher/...",
        "foi": "https://www.data.gov.uk/..."
    },
    "scrapedTimestamp": "2025-12-02T21:00:00.000Z"
}

What You Get:

• title - The name of the dataset
• url - Direct link to the dataset page
• publisher - Government department or organization that published it
• lastUpdated - When the dataset was last updated
• description - What the dataset contains
• topic - Category classification
• format - Available data formats
• license - Licensing information
• downloadLinks - Direct links to download the data files
• contact - Full contact information text with enquiry and FOI request details
• contactUrl - Structured object containing contact URLs (enquiries, foi, etc.)
• scrapedTimestamp - When the data was collected

Download Options: CSV, Excel, or JSON formats for easy analysis in your preferred tools

Why Choose the Data.gov.uk Scraper?

• ⚡ Time Savings: Automate hours of manual browsing and data collection into minutes
• 🎯 Comprehensive Coverage: Extract all available metadata in one go, not just basic information
• 🔄 Up-to-Date Intelligence: Track when datasets are updated and discover new releases automatically
• 📊 Structured Data: Get clean, structured JSON/CSV output ready for analysis
• 🔍 Advanced Filtering: Find exactly what you need using publisher, topic, format, and license filters
• 🚀 Parallel Processing: Fast batch processing handles large collections efficiently
• 🛡️ Reliable: Built-in retry logic handles network issues automatically

Time Savings: What takes hours of manual browsing and copying can be done in minutes with automated collection
Efficiency: Process hundreds of datasets simultaneously instead of visiting each page individually

How to Use

1. Sign Up: Create a free account w/ $5 credit (takes 2 minutes)
2. Find the Scraper: Visit the Data.gov.uk Scraper page
3. Set Input: Choose either direct URLs or search filters (we'll show you exactly what to enter)
4. Run It: Click "Start" and let it collect your data
5. Download Data: Get your results in the "Dataset" tab as CSV, Excel, or JSON

Total Time: Setup takes 2 minutes, data collection depends on how many datasets you're collecting
No Technical Skills Required: Everything is point-and-click

Business Use Cases

Data Researchers:

• Discover relevant government datasets for research projects
• Track updates to datasets you're monitoring
• Build comprehensive databases of UK open data resources
• Analyze government data publishing patterns

Policy Analysts:

• Monitor new policy-related datasets as they're published
• Track updates to existing policy datasets
• Find datasets across multiple government departments
• Build evidence bases for policy recommendations

Data Analysts:

• Discover datasets for analysis projects
• Track when datasets are updated for regular reporting
• Find datasets in specific formats (CSV, JSON) for analysis
• Build comprehensive data catalogs

Government Contractors:

• Monitor new datasets relevant to your contracts
• Track updates to datasets you're working with
• Discover datasets from specific departments
• Build intelligence on government data publishing

Developers:

• Discover APIs and datasets for application development
• Track updates to datasets your applications use
• Find datasets in machine-readable formats
• Build automated data pipelines

Using Data.gov.uk Scraper with the Apify API

For advanced users who want to automate this process, you can control the scraper programmatically with the Apify API. This allows you to schedule regular data collection and integrate with your existing business tools.

• Node.js: Install the apify-client NPM package
• Python: Use the apify-client PyPI package
• See the Apify API reference for full details

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How does it work?
A: Data.gov.uk Scraper is easy to use and requires no technical knowledge. Simply configure your search parameters or provide dataset URLs, and let the tool collect the data automatically. The scraper handles pagination, extracts all metadata, and delivers structured results.

Q: How accurate is the data?
A: The scraper extracts data directly from data.gov.uk pages, ensuring 100% accuracy. All information comes from the official UK government open data portal.

Q: Can I scrape specific datasets?
A: Yes! You can provide direct URLs to specific dataset pages, or use search filters to find datasets matching your criteria. You can combine multiple filters for precise results.

Q: Can I schedule regular runs?
A: Yes! Use the Apify API or scheduler to run the scraper automatically on a schedule. This is perfect for tracking updates to datasets you're monitoring.

Q: What if I need help?
A: Our support team is here to help you get the most out of this tool. Contact us through the Apify platform or check the documentation.

Q: Is my data secure?
A: Yes, all data processing happens securely on Apify's platform. Your results are private and only accessible to you.

Q: How many datasets can I scrape?
A: Free users can scrape up to 50 datasets per run. Paid users can scrape up to 1,000,000 datasets per run.

Q: What formats are supported?
A: The scraper can filter datasets by format (CSV, JSON, XML, PDF, etc.) and provides download links for all available formats.

Integrate Data.gov.uk Scraper with any app and automate your workflow

Last but not least, Data.gov.uk Scraper can be connected with almost any cloud service or web app thanks to integrations on the Apify platform.

These includes:

• Make
• Zapier
• Slack
• Airbyte
• GitHub
• Google Drive
• and much more.

Alternatively, you can use webhooks to carry out an action whenever an event occurs, e.g. get a notification whenever Data.gov.uk Scraper successfully finishes a run.

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Pro Tip: 💡 Browse our complete collection of data collection actors to find the perfect tool for your business needs.

Need Help? Our support team is here to help you get the most out of this tool.

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⚠️ Disclaimer: This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Data.gov.uk, the UK Government, or any of its subsidiaries. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.