Census questions could be replaced with mobile phone data following a successful test by the Office of National Statistics. The plan is part of a Government-backed programme that could see the traditional questionnaire abandoned and other data sources, including phone records, used instead.

Phone data would allow the ONS to track where people live and work.

The agency has been carrying out experimental population analyses using different data sources since 2015, but this is the first to use data showing the location of phone users.

A report published on the ONS website yesterday revealed that the data showing commuting patterns, which was collected from Vodafone users aged 18 and over between March and April last year, matches well to corresponding census information collected in the 2011 poll.

The ONS has also examined how data from mobile phones could be used to analyse ethnicity, wealth and population levels.