What is UK Biobank?

UK Biobank is the world’s most comprehensive dataset of biological, health and lifestyle information.

Since 2006, we have collected an unprecedented amount of data on half a million people, aged between 40 and 69 years old and living in the UK at the time of collection.

Via the UKB-RAP, approved researchers from around the world can access this de-identified data to undertake research in the interest of public health.

With the ongoing support of our community of participants and researchers, our resource continues to grow, diversify and mature. We continually add to it through participant follow-ups, researcher-contributed data derivations, new studies and online questionnaires.

With exceptional size, depth and longevity, UK Biobank is a uniquely valuable resource for understanding the impact of ageing on population health.

About our data

Our vast resource includes data on imaging, biomarkers, genetics, questionnaires, data, healthcare records, physical measurements, demographic and lifestyle, and environmental factors.

For overviews of the data available, including our latest releases of new and updated data, explore Our Data.

Researchers can also use our Showcase browser to explore the data in detail. The browser contains background information on how these data were collected and notes about future collections.  

About our participants

UK Biobank recruited a total of 503,317 volunteers between 2006 and 2010, living within a roughly 25-mile (40-km) radius of one of our 22 centres in Scotland, England and Wales.

• 54% of our participants are female according to their NHS records, 46% are male.
• At the time of recruitment, 24% of participants were aged 40 to 49, 34% were aged 50 to 59 and 42% were aged 60 to 69.
• Our participants come from many backgrounds, with more than 41,000 born outside of the UK.
• Participants have a huge variety of jobs – from farmers and biochemists to artists and sales assistants.