England and Wales Census 2021 - Sexual orientation by age and sex (9 categories)

These datasets provide Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents aged 16 years and over in England and Wales by sexual orientation by sex, sexual orientation by age and sexual orientation by sex and age.

LGB+

An abbreviation used to refer to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other minority sexual orientations (for example, asexual).

Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation is an umbrella term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. For an individual respondent, these may not be the same. For example, someone in an opposite-sex relationship may also experience same-sex attraction, and vice versa. This means the statistics should be interpreted purely as showing how people responded to the question, rather than being about whom they are attracted to or their actual relationships.

We have not provided glossary entries for individual sexual orientation categories. This is because individual respondents may have differing perspectives on the exact meaning.

The question on sexual orientation was new for Census 2021. It was voluntary and was only asked of people aged 16 years and over.

In total, 44.9 million people answered the sexual orientation question (92.5% of the population aged 16 years and over).

Usual resident

A usual resident is anyone who on Census Day, 21 March 2021, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more or had a permanent UK address.

Notes

  • To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

  • Percentages have been calculated using rounded data.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated January 25, 2023, 15:18 (GMT)
Created January 25, 2023, 15:18 (GMT)
Visibility Public
Year 2021
Topics Demography
Identity
Units Persons
Geographic Layer Countries
Frequency Decennial
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2021-1
Citation Office for National Statistics; National Records of Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency; UK Data Service. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2021-1
Geographical Coverage Location England and Wales
Granularity Country level only
Geographic Spatial data {"geo_type": "polygon", "lat": "52.4036", "lon": "-1.93872", "left": "-6.53687", "top": "55.8275", "right": "1.98853", "bottom": "49.6694", "srid": null, "accuracy": null, "source": null}