Proportion of people aged 3 and over able to speak Welsh
Over a fifth (21 per cent) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh in the 2001 Census with similar proportions able to read (20 per cent) and write (18 per cent) Welsh. Sixteen per cent reported that they had all these skills. For the first time, the Census asked respondents about understanding Welsh; nearly a quarter (24 per cent) said they could.
A question on speaking Welsh has been included on every Census since 1891, when more than half (54 per cent) the population said they did. Since then, the proportion of people speaking Welsh has fallen appreciably until reaching an all time low (19 per cent) in 1981 and 1991.
Ability to speak, read and write Welsh: by age, April 2001
The increase since 1991 in people able to speak Welsh is largely associated with children being taught the language in school. Two fifths (39 per cent) of children aged 10 to 15 were able to speak, read and write Welsh compared with 25 per cent of 16 to 19 year olds. The proportion of adults with these skills declined towards middle age (11 per cent of those aged 35 to 49) and then increased for older age groups (15 per cent of those aged 75 and over). This reflected the fact that the language was more widely used when older people were growing up.
In all age groups, women were more likely to have these Welsh language skills than men. This difference was most notable in the 10 to 15 and 16 to 19 year old age groups – in both cases the proportion of girls able to speak, read and write Welsh was seven percentage points higher than boys.
Unitary Authority areas in the north and west of the country had the highest proportion of people speaking, reading and writing Welsh. Gwynedd and the Isle of Anglesey were the only areas where more than half the population had all these skills (61 per cent and 51 per cent respectively). This regional pattern was still apparent after age and country of birth had been taken into account.
In the north, areas bordering England had lower than average rates of people able to speak, read and write Welsh. In part, this was because of the large proportion of people living in these areas who were not born in Wales. When looking at the Welsh-born population only, the proportions were much closer to the regional average.
Unitary Authority areas in the south east had lower than average proportions of people speaking, reading and writing Welsh, irrespective of their country of birth or age structure. Less than 7 per cent of the populations of Blaenau Gwent and Monmouth had these skills which were the lowest proportions in the country.
Those born in Wales were much more likely to have the full complement of Welsh language skills than those born outside the country (20 per cent compared with 7 per cent). However, those born outside Wales were more likely to have Welsh language skills if they lived in a Unitary Authority area where Welsh is widely used. For example 17 per cent of those born outside Wales who lived in Gwynedd, could speak, read and write Welsh.
Source: Censuses, April 1891 to April 2001, Office for National Statistics. (No Census was conducted in 1941 due to the Second World War.)
Notes: Census question on speaking Welsh: Although the exact format of the question and the population base have changed over that time, it is possible to use previous Census data to show the broad trends in Welsh language usage.
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Demography