Census 2001 - Wales and its people
Significant increase in use of Welsh language

 Welsh language      Marital status and living arrangements      Health    
 Work and travel      Qualifications      Housing and Households    
 Country of Birth, Ethnicity and Religion      Background Notes

The proportion of people in Wales aged three and over who can speak, read and write Welsh has increased from 13.6 per cent to 16.3 per cent in the last ten years.

Some of the main points from the census show:

• In the past 10 years the population of Wales increased by 30,000 people - just over 1 per cent - to a total of 2,903,000.
• Wales has a smaller proportion of single people but a higher proportion of lone-parent households than England.
• A higher proportion of people own their houses outright in Wales (34.0 per cent) than in England (29.2 per cent).
• Compared with England there are higher proportions of people in Wales employed in agriculture, manufacturing and health & social work.
• Seven out of 10 people in Wales travel to work by motor vehicle compared with six out of 10 in England.
• Nearly one in three people in Wales has no qualifications but nearly one in six has a degree or professional qualification.
• The proportion of people in Wales with a limiting long-term illness rose from 18 per cent in 1991 to 23 per cent in 2001 (compared with 18 per cent in England in 2001). In Merthyr Tydfil this proportion was 30 per cent.
• In answer to a new question, 65.1 per cent of people say they are in 'good health', 22.5 per cent say they are in fairly good health and 12.4 per cent per cent say their health is 'not good'. (These proportions in England are 68.8 per cent, 22.2 per cent and 9.0 per cent respectively.)
• More than 75 per cent of the Welsh population was born in Wales compared with 77 per cent in 1991.
• Across Wales, 14 per cent of people wrote in Welsh for their ethnicity. The proportions identifying themselves as Welsh ranged from 6 per cent in Flintshire to 27 per cent in Gwynedd.
• In Wales almost 98 per cent of the population identify themselves as white compared with 91 per cent in England. The proportion of people who give their religion as Christian is 72 per cent, very similar to England.

Welsh language

For the first time people were asked if they could understand spoken Welsh as well as if they could speak, read or write Welsh. While in Wales as a whole 28.4 per cent say they have one or more skills in the Welsh language, in north west and west Wales it is much higher - 76 per cent in Gwynedd, 70 per cent in the Isle of Anglesey, 64 per cent in Carmarthenshire and 61 per cent in Ceredigion. 16.3 per cent of Wales as a whole can speak, read and write Welsh.

Even in the local authority with the lowest proportion, Monmouthshire, nearly 13 per cent of people say they have one or more skills in the Welsh language.

Marital status and living arrangements

Only 28.0 per cent of the Welsh population over 16 are single (never married) compared with 30.2 per cent in England. Wales also has a lower proportion of separated people - 1.9 per cent compared with 2.4 per cent.

The proportions of people who are married (44.5 per cent), divorced (8.7 per cent) or widowed (9.4 per cent) are higher than in England (43.5 per cent, 8.2 per cent and 8.3 per cent respectively).

Wales has a higher proportion of lone-parent households than England (10.6 per cent compared with 9.5 per cent) and a slightly lower proportion of one-person households - 29.1 per cent compared with 30.1 per cent.

Otherwise, household structure is similar to England - 24 per cent of households comprise a married couple with children, 13 per cent a married couple without children and just over 9 per cent just pensioners in the household.

Health

People in all Welsh authority areas report higher rates of poor health than the average for England and Wales - 65.1 per cent in Wales say their health is good compared with 68.8 per cent in England and 12.4 per cent say their health is not good compared with 9.0 per cent in England.

Seven of the 10 local authorities with the highest rates of people who say their health is not good are in Wales. Merthyr Tydfil has the highest proportion with 18.1 per cent and Blaenau Gwent, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda;Cynon;Taff, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire and Torfaen all have rates of 13.9 per cent or more. Monmouthshire has the highest rate of good health in Wales - 68.6 per cent and Cardiff has the lowest proportion in Wales of people with a limiting long-term illness - 18.8 per cent.

Another new question in the Census was about the provision of unpaid care and 11.7 per cent of people in Wales state they provide some unpaid care compared with 9.9 per cent in England.

In Neath Port Talbot 14 per cent of people provide unpaid care, the highest in England and Wales. In addition, some 90,000 people (3.1 per cent of the population of Wales) say they provide more than 50 hours a week unpaid care. This proportion is 2 per cent in England.

Work and travel

There are just under 1.2 million people aged 16 to 74 in employment in Wales - 17.3 per cent work in the manufacturing industry compared with 14.8 in England; 2.5 per cent in agriculture, hunting & forestry compared with 1.5 per cent; and 13.0 per cent in health & social work compared with 10.7 per cent in England.

Just one third of a per cent of people in Wales are employed in mining and quarrying. However, this proportion is only one quarter of a per cent in England.

In Blaenau Gwent, almost one worker in three is engaged in the manufacturing industry and in Powys more than one worker in 10 is in agriculture, hunting & forestry.

While 71.5 per cent of people travel to work in a motor vehicle just 6.5 per cent use public transport, 1.4 per cent ride a bicycle and 10.3 per cent walk to work. Also 9.7 per cent work mainly at or from home.

The use of a motor vehicle varies from 63 per cent in Ceredigion to 78 per cent in Flintshire. The highest proportion of people using public transport is in Cardiff (13 per cent) and Newport (11 per cent). Around 20 per cent of people work at or from home in Powys and Ceredigion.

Qualifications

Nearly one in three people aged 16 to 74 in Wales has no qualifications (33.0 per cent) compared to 28.9 per cent in England. There are also slightly fewer people in Wales with a degree or higher qualifications (17.4 per cent compared with 19.9 per cent in England).

Housing and Households

Over 70 per cent of households are owner-occupied in Wales compared with 68 per cent in England. This comprises 34.0 per cent owned outright and 36.8 per cent owned with a mortgage. Of rented accommodation most rent from a Council (13.7 per cent) followed by a private landlord (7.4 per cent) and a Housing Association (4.2 per cent).

Country of Birth, Ethnicity and Religion

While 75.4 per cent of the people living in Wales at the time of the Census were born in Wales, 20.3 per cent were born in England, 0.8 per cent in Scotland and 0.3 per cent in Northern Ireland. Just 1.3 per cent were born in the rest of the European Union and 1.9 per cent outside the EU.

Of the 22 local authority areas in Wales, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Rhondda;Cynon;Taff and Neath Port Talbot have the highest proportions of the population born in Wales (all 89.5 per cent or more) while in Flintshire, Conwy and Powys, more than 40 per cent of the population were born in England.

Across Wales, 14 per cent of people wrote in Welsh in the ethnicity section on the Census form. The proportions identifying themselves as Welsh range from 6 per cent in Flintshire to 27 per cent in Gwynedd. However, the Welsh Local Labour Force Survey includes a specific question on national identity and should therefore be regarded as a more reliable indicator. This gives the much higher figure of 69 per cent who consider themselves as Welsh.

In Wales overall just 0.9 per cent describe themselves as Asian or Asian British (compared with 4.6 per cent in England), 0.6 per cent as mixed ethnic group and 0.2 per cent as Black or Black British. Cardiff has the highest proportions in Wales of most minority ethnic groups.

For the first time people were given the opportunity to describe their religion. The proportions of people who describe their religion as Christian varies from 64 per cent in Blaenau Gwent to more than 79 per cent in the Isle of Anglesey.

Although the next most common religion in Wales after Christian is Muslim this makes up just 0.7 per cent of the population.

In Wales as a whole there are 0.2 per cent Buddhist, 0.2 per cent Hindu, 0.1 per cent Jewish, 0.1 per cent Sikh.

However, 18.5 per cent state they have no religion compared with 14.6 per cent in England. More than a quarter of people in Rhondda;Cynon;Taff and Blaenau Gwent say they have no religion.

Background Notes

1. Census day was 29 April 2001. Census data give a snapshot picture of the country at this time. Population counts by age and sex for England and Wales, Wales, regions of England and English and Welsh local authorities were published on 30 September 2002.

2. The Office for National Statistics is responsible for the census in England and Wales. The Census in Scotland and in Northern Ireland is carried out by the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency respectively. Census data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are released separately.

3. Detailed Census results published today are mainly for England and Wales and its regions and local authorities. Individual press releases are available for Wales and each of the nine English Government Office Regions: North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands, South West, South East, London and the East. Press releases covering six key Census topic areas are also issued today: Ethnicity and religion, Families, Health, Households, People and places, Work. Census data published today are available free on the National Statistics website: www.statistics.gov.uk/census/

4. Further releases of Census data will take place through Spring and Summer 2003. In March/April there will be cross-tabulated data, followed by data down to small area/ward level. In the summer will begin a series of multi-source topic reports which draw upon other sources in addition to census to provide detailed pictures of specific topics and areas.

5. Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available from the press office.

6. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference. © Crown copyright 2003.