Constituency data: LGBT+ people (Census 2021, 2022)

The census asked people about their sexual orientation and gender identity, with the aim of producing data about the LGBT+ community.

The censuses were carried out in March 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and in March 2022 in Scotland. The different censuses took different approaches to asking about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Because sexual orientation and gender identity were asked about in separate questions and sometimes in different ways, this page has dashboards dealing with each of these concepts separately.

Constituency data on sexual orientation

Census respondents aged 16 or over were asked a voluntary question about their sexual orientation. Similar questions were asked on the censuses in each UK country.

We have calculated UK averages for response groups using 2021 data for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2022 data for Scotland. Because these censuses were done in different years, they don’t tell us about the population on a particular date. But they are useful for more generally comparing different parts of the UK.

Around 3.2% of respondents across the UK identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual or with another sexual orientation other than straight (heterosexual). This group is described as ‘LGB+’ on this page, consistent with the Office for National Statistics.

89.5% of respondents identified as straight or heterosexual, and 7.3% chose not to answer the question.

The dashboard below shows data for individual constituencies.

• Find which constituency you live in

Use the dropdown menu to select the constituency you’re interested in and view statistics.

Open a printable version

If you would like to access this information in an alternative format please email papers@parliament.uk and we will review your request.

Constituency data on gender identity and trans people

The censuses across the UK took different approaches to asking about gender identity.

There are concerns about the quality of local-level data in England and Wales (see below), and the census in Northern Ireland did not ask about gender identity or trans people. The dashboard below therefore shows data for Scottish constituencies only.

Trans people in Scottish constituencies

In Scotland, respondents to the 2022 census aged 16 or over were asked “Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history?”. The question was voluntary. Respondents could answer yes or no, and specify more detail about their identity if the answer was yes.

The dashboard below shows data for individual constituencies in Scotland.

• Find which constituency you live in

Use the dropdown menu to select the constituency you’re interested in and view statistics. Open a printable version Download all data in Excel (2.0 MB) If you would like to access this information in an alternative format please email papers@parliament.uk and we will review your request.

Gender identity in England and Wales

There are concerns about the quality of local-level data on gender identity in England and Wales, although the national estimates are considered to be broadly accurate. In England and Wales, respondents to the 2021 census aged 16 or over were asked “Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?”. The question was voluntary. Respondents could answer yes or no, and specify what their gender identity was if their answer was no. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which runs the census in England and Wales, has said that by gender identity it means “a person’s sense of their own gender, whether male, female, or another category such as non-binary”. The ONS has reviewed the quality of its results on gender identity. In November 2023 it concluded that there are “higher levels of uncertainty” in its estimates of gender identity compared with other census topics. The ONS found that people who said their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth were more likely to also say they did not speak English well. The ONS says that this trend could mean that “some respondents [were] not interpreting the question as intended”. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) has reviewed the ONS’s approach to measuring gender identity and communicating its findings. Its September 2024 report concludes that the ONS’s national-level estimate aligns with other sources and is not misleading. However, it concludes that the data is more likely to be misleading in some local areas where there could be “a higher concentration of people misunderstanding the question”. Before the OSR’s review was published, this page included constituency data for England and Wales. Because the OSR has concluded that gender identity statistics for local areas are not always reliable, we have removed the constituency data from this page. Across the whole of England and Wales, 0.5% of people aged 16 and over said they had a gender identity different from their sex registered at birth. Within this group:

• 0.2% provided no further detail on their gender identity
• 0.1% identified as a trans man
• 0.1% identified as a trans woman
• 0.1% identified with a different gender identity, such as non-binary.

6.0% of respondents chose not to answer the question, and 93.5% said their gender identity was the same as their sex registered at birth.

Sources

England and Wales: ONS, 2021 Census, Table TS077 Scotland: Scotland’s census, Search census data, Tables UV904 and UV903 Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2021 census custom table: sexual orientation

Data updates

This dashboard uses census data. The 2021 and 2022 censuses are currently the only source of constituency-level data on this topic, which means that there aren’t any updates planned for the near future.