Census 2021: National Identity

Below you will find selected national statistics from Census 2021 for Wales and for local authority areas.

National identity at local authority and MSOA level

ONS has issued a useful interactive maps where you can check numbers and proportions of diverse groups by Local Authority areas and smaller areas called MSOA’s. The map is a useful tool and you can use it below.

Local Authority and smaller areas: UK, Non-UK, Welsh, British, English

Local Authority and smaller areas: Detailed national identities

National Identity in Wales: UK vs. Non-UK

• 5.4% of usual residents in Wales chose at least one non-UK national identity (up from 3.8% in 2011). Within this group 4.2% of the population did not associate with any UK identity (up from 3.4% in 2011)

Source: Census 2021

National Identity in Wales: UK identities

• 1.7 million people in Wales identified with a “Welsh” only identity (55.2% of the population, down from 57.5% in 2011).
• The areas with the largest percentages of “Welsh” only identity included Merthyr Tydfil (70.0%), Rhondda Cynon Taf (69.8%), and Caerphilly (69.2%), while Flintshire (34.7%) had the smallest proportion.

Source: Census 2021

Largest non-UK identities

Source Census 2021

Where can I find and analyse the Census 2021 data?

If you want to analyse the data yourself, use Census website or the ‘query data’ function on Nomis website.

How can I use this data?

If you are interested in finding out more about how this data can be used as part of your organisation’s equality monitoring or customer profiling:

• Check out our equality monitoring resource page - CHECK LINKS BEFORE PUBLICATION
• Book our training on equality monitoring and/or equality impact assessments