🇬🇧 Data.gov.uk Scraper

🚀 Collect open dataset metadata from Data.gov.uk in minutes. Search by keyword, publisher, or topic. Export dataset titles, descriptions, download links, and publisher info. No coding, no account required.

🕒 Last updated: 2026-04-16 · 📊 20+ fields per dataset · 🔍 3 search filters · 📂 Publisher + topic · 🚫 No auth required

The Data.gov.uk Scraper collects open data catalog metadata from the UK government's data portal, returning 20+ fields per dataset: title, description, publisher, topic, format, download URL, update frequency, and license. Runs support up to 1,000,000 datasets on a paid plan.

Data.gov.uk hosts over 50,000 open datasets from UK government departments and public bodies. The Actor supports keyword search with publisher and topic filters.

🎯 Target Audience	💡 Primary Use Cases
Data scientists, policy researchers, journalists, civic tech teams, academic researchers, open data advocates	Open data discovery, policy research, data journalism, civic technology, government transparency analysis

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📋 What the Data.gov.uk Scraper does

Three search filters:

• 🔍 Keyword search. Free-text search across dataset titles and descriptions.
• 🏛️ Publisher filter. Filter by government department or public body.
• 📂 Topic filter. Browse by subject area.
• 🔗 URL mode. Paste a direct Data.gov.uk search URL.

Each dataset record includes title, description, publisher, topic, data format, download URL, update frequency, license, and portal URL.

💡 Why it matters: browsing Data.gov.uk for relevant datasets means scrolling through search results and clicking into each listing. This Actor exports structured catalog metadata at scale, ready for your open data inventories or research pipelines.

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🎬 Full Demo

🚧 Coming soon: a 3-minute walkthrough showing how to go from sign-up to a downloaded dataset.

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⚙️ Input

Input	Type	Default	Behavior
startUrl	string	""	Direct Data.gov.uk search URL.
maxItems	integer	10	Max datasets. Free: limited. Paid: up to 1,000,000.
searchQuery	string	""	Keyword search.
publisher	string	""	Government department or public body.
topic	string	""	Subject area filter.

Example: health datasets from NHS.

{
    "searchQuery": "health",
    "publisher": "NHS Digital",
    "maxItems": 50
}

Example: all transport datasets.

{
    "topic": "transport",
    "maxItems": 100
}

⚠️ Good to Know: Data.gov.uk is the UK government's official open data portal. Datasets link to various formats (CSV, JSON, XML, PDF) hosted by individual departments.

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📊 Output

Each dataset record contains 20+ fields. Download the catalog as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML.

🧾 Schema

Field	Type	Example
📝 title	string	"NHS Hospital Admissions"
📄 description	string	"Monthly hospital admission statistics..."
🏛️ publisher	string	"NHS Digital"
📂 topic	string	"Health"
📦 format	string	"CSV"
🔗 downloadUrl	string	"https://data.gov.uk/dataset/..."
📅 lastUpdated	string	"2026-03-15"
🔄 updateFrequency	string	"Monthly"
📜 license	string	"Open Government Licence"
🔗 portalUrl	string	"https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/..."
🕒 scrapedAt	ISO 8601	"2026-04-16T00:00:00.000Z"

📦 Sample records

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✨ Why choose this Actor

	Capability
🇬🇧	Full Data.gov.uk catalog. 50,000+ UK government datasets.
🔍	3 search filters. Keyword, publisher, topic.
📦	Format and download links. Direct URLs to CSV, JSON, XML files.
🏛️	Publisher data. Government department per dataset.
📅	Update frequency. Monthly, quarterly, annual cadence per dataset.
⚡	Scalable. Quick lookups to full catalog sweeps.
🚫	No authentication. Public open data portal.

📊 Data.gov.uk is the UK's official open data portal, hosting datasets from 900+ government organizations. Structured access powers every open data project, policy research, and civic technology workflow.

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📈 How it compares to alternatives

Approach	Cost	Coverage	Refresh	Filters	Setup
⭐ Data.gov.uk Scraper (this Actor)	$5 free credit, then pay-per-use	Full catalog	Live per run	keyword, publisher, topic	⚡ 2 min
Manual Data.gov.uk browsing	Free	One at a time	Manual	UI only	🕒 Hours
CKAN API (direct)	Free	Full	Real-time	Many	⏳ Hours (API setup)

Pick this Actor when you want UK open data catalog metadata on demand, with publisher and topic filters, without CKAN API integration.

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🚀 How to use

1. 📝 Sign up. Create a free account with $5 credit (takes 2 minutes).
2. 🌐 Open the Actor. Go to the Data.gov.uk Scraper page on the Apify Store.
3. 🎯 Set input. Enter a keyword, pick a publisher or topic.
4. 🚀 Run it. Click Start.
5. 📥 Download. Grab results in the Dataset tab.

⏱️ Total time: 3-5 minutes. No coding required.

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💼 Business use cases

📊 Data Science & Research Discover relevant UK government datasets Build open data catalogs for research Track new dataset publications Analyze data coverage by topic	🏛️ Policy & Civic Tech Monitor government data releases Build transparency dashboards Track department data publishing rates Power civic apps with open data
📰 Data Journalism Find datasets for investigative stories Track data freshness across departments Build story pipelines from government data Monitor new dataset publications	🏢 Business Intelligence Enrich models with UK government data Track economic indicators by topic Build UK market data pipelines Monitor regulatory data releases

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🔌 Automating Data.gov.uk Scraper

• 🟢 Node.js. Install the apify-client NPM package.
• 🐍 Python. Use the apify-client PyPI package.
• 📚 See the Apify API documentation for full details.

The Apify Schedules feature lets you trigger this Actor on any cron interval. Weekly pulls catch new dataset publications.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

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🔌 Integrate with any app

• Make - Automate workflows
• Zapier - Connect 5,000+ apps
• Slack - Get notifications
• Airbyte - Data pipelines
• GitHub - Trigger from commits
• Google Drive - Export to Sheets

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💡 Pro Tip: browse the complete ParseForge collection for more government and open data scrapers.

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🆘 Need Help? Open our contact form to request a new scraper, propose a custom data project, or report an issue.

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⚠️ Disclaimer: this Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the UK government or Data.gov.uk. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Only publicly available open data catalog metadata is collected.