Demographics of Wales

Demographics of Wales include population, place of birth, age, ethnicity, religion, and number of marriages in Wales.

Historical population

Year	Population
1536	278,000
1620	360,000
1770	500,000
1801	587,000
1851	1,163,000
1911	2,421,000
1921	2,656,000
1939	2,487,000
1961	2,644,023
1991	2,811,865
2011	3,063,456
2021	3,107,500

The population of Wales doubled from 587,000 in 1801 to 1,163,000 in 1851 and had reached 2,421,000 by 1911. Most of the increase came in the coal mining districts, especially Glamorganshire, which grew from 71,000 in 1801 to 232,000 in 1851, and to 1,122,000 in 1911. Part of this increase can be attributed to the demographic transition seen in most industrialising countries during the Industrial Revolution, as death-rates dropped and birth-rates remained steady. However, there was also a large-scale migration of people into Wales during the Industrial Revolution.

Current population

The 2021 census showed Wales' population to be 3,107,500, the highest in its history. In 2011, 27 per cent of the total population of Wales were not born in Wales, including 636,000 people who were born in England. The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, including the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and the nearby valleys, with another significant population in the north-east around Wrexham and Flintshire.According to the 2001 census, 96 per cent of the population was White British, and 2.1 per cent non-white. Most non-white groups were concentrated in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. Welsh Asian and African communities developed mainly through immigration after the Second World War. In the early 21st century, parts of Wales saw an increased number of immigrants settle from recent EU accession countries such as Poland, though a 2007 study showed a relatively low number of employed immigrant workers from the former Eastern Bloc countries in Wales compared to other regions of the United Kingdom.
The 2001 UK census was criticised in Wales for not offering Welsh as an option to describe respondents' national identity. Partly to address this concern, the 2011 census asked the question "How would you describe your national identity?". Respondents were instructed to "tick all that apply" from a list of options that included Welsh. The outcome was that 57.5 per cent of Wales' population indicated their sole national identity to be Welsh; a further 7.1 per cent indicated it to be both Welsh and British. No Welsh national identity was indicated by 34.1 per cent. The proportion giving their sole national identity as British was 16.9 per cent, and another 9.4 per cent included British with another national identity. No British national identity was indicated by 73.7 per cent. 11.2 per cent indicated their sole national identity as English and another 2.6 per cent included English with another national identity.
The 2011 census showed Wales to be less ethnically diverse than any region of 'England and Wales': 93.2 per cent classed themselves as White British, 2.4 per cent as Other White, 2.2 per cent as Asian, 1 per cent as Mixed, and 0.6 per cent as Black. The lowest proportion of White British was in Cardiff.
In 2001, a quarter of the Welsh population were born outside Wales, mainly in England; about 3 per cent were born outside the UK. The proportion born in Wales varies across the country, with the highest percentages in the South Wales valleys and the lowest in Mid Wales and parts of the north-east. In both Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil, 92 per cent were Welsh-born, compared with only 51 per cent and 56 per cent in the border counties of Flintshire and Powys. Just over 1.75 million Americans report themselves to have Welsh ancestry, as did 440,965 Canadians in Canada's 2006 census.
The total fertility rate in Wales was 1.90 in 2011, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1. The majority of births are to unmarried women. About one in 10 births in 2011 were to foreign-born mothers, compared to 5.2 per cent in 2001.

Vital statistics

	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Natural change	Fertility rates
1940		39,319	35,585	3,734	13.9	12.6	1.3	1.84
1941		39,886	35,837	4,049	13.7	12.3	1.4	1.82
1942		43,130	31,360	11,770	15.4	11.2	4.2	2.03
1943		43,270	31,496	11,774	16.0	11.6	4.4	2.11
1944		46,730	30,987	15,743	17.5	11.6	5.9	2.33
1945		41,515	31,892	9,623	15.7	12.1	3.6	2.12
1946		47,566	31,547	16,019	19.0	12.3	6.7	2.55
1947		51,163	33,291	17,872	20.4	13.3	7.1	2.75
1948		47,175	30,095	17,080	17.7	11.3	6.4	2.46
1949		44,337	32,109	12,228	16.6	12.0	4.6	2.35
1950		42,776	33,295	9,481	15.4	12.9	2.5	2.26
1951		41,270	36,005	5,265	15.2	13.3	1.9	2.21
1952		41,388	31,005	10,383	15.1	11.3	3.8	2.23
1953		41,528	31,392	10,136	15.3	12.4	2.9	2.31
1954		40,256	32,822	7,704	15.0	12.3	2.7	2.28
1955		38,876	33,938	4,938	14.8	12.7	2.1	2.25
1956		40,915	32,438	8,477	15.5	12.0	3.5	2.41
1957		41,645	32,696	8,949	15.9	12.3	3.6	2.43
1958		42,460	32,642	9,818	16.2	12.2	4.0	2.50
1959		42,262	32,134	10,128	16.3	12.1	4.2	2.56
1960		44,147	32,715	11,432	17.0	12.3	4.7	2.68
1961		44,923	33,705	11,218	17.4	12.9	4.5	2.75
1962		45,382	33,781	11,601	17.8	13.0	4.8	2.83
1963		47,038	34,763	12,275	18.0	13.2	4.8	2.95
1964		47,502	32,746	14,756	18.3	12.3	6.0	2.99
1965		46,292	33,062	13,230	17.9	12.4	5.5	2.91
1966		44,866	34,643	10,223	17.5	12.8	4.7	2.81
1967		43,706	33,160	10,546	17.0	12.2	4.8	2.73
1968		44,207	34,892	9,315	16.7	12.9	3.8	2.62
1969		43,082	35,953	7,129	16.2	13.5	2.7	2.53
1970		42,487	34,998	7,489	15.8	12.8	3.0	2.47
1971	2,740,000	43,056	34,817	8,239	15.7	12.5	3.0	2.45
1972	2,755,000	39,955	36,000	3,955	14.5	13.1	1.4	2.24
1973	2,772,000	37,597	35,826	1,771	13.6	12.9	0.7	2.08
1974	2,785,000	36,206	35,634	572	13.0	12.8	0.2	1.97
1975	2,795,000	33,972	35,610	-1,638	12.2	12.7	-0.5	1.87
1976	2,799,000	33,738	36,345	-2,607	11.9	13.0	-1.1	1.79
1977	2,800,000	31,765	35,205	-3,440	11.3	12.6	-1.3	1.72
1978	2,804,000	33,308	35,963	-2,665	11.9	12.8	-0.9	1.79
1979	2,810,000	36,174	36,087	87	12.9	12.8	0.1	1.91
1980	2,815,000	37,357	35,149	2,208	13.3	12.5	0.8	1.95
1981	2,813,000	35,842	35,015	827	12.7	12.4	0.3	1.87
1982	2,804,000	35,720	35,152	568	12.7	12.5	0.2	1.86
1983	2,803,000	35,494	35,242	252	12.7	12.6	0.1	1.83
1984	2,800,000	35,861	33,652	2,209	12.8	12.0	0.8	1.83
1985	2,803,000	36,771	35,536	1,235	13.1	12.7	0.4	1.86
1986	2,811,000	37,038	34,712	2,326	13.2	12.3	0.9	1.86
1987	2,822,000	37,816	33,919	3,897	13.4	12.0	1.4	1.88
1988	2,841,000	38,824	33,981	4,842	13.7	12.0	1.7	1.91
1989	2,855,000	38,019	35,134	2,885	13.3	12.3	1.0	1.86
1990	2,861,000	38,866	33,963	4,903	13.6	11.9	1.7	1.91
1991	2,873,000	38,079	34,136	3,943	13.3	11.9	1.4	1.88
1992	2,877,000	37,523	33,792	3,731	13.0	11.7	1.3	1.87
1993	2,883,000	36,578	35,826	752	12.7	12.4	0.3	1.84
1994	2,887,000	35,366	33,824	1,542	12.2	11.7	0.5	1.79
1995	2,888,000	34,477	35,306	-829	11.9	12.2	-0.3	1.77
1996	2,891,000	34,894	34,802	92	12.1	12.0	0.1	1.81
1997	2,895,000	34,520	34,886	-366	11.9	12.1	-0.2	1.81
1998	2,899,000	33,438	33,905	-467	11.5	11.7	-0.2	1.78
1999	2,900,000	32,111	34,929	-2,818	11.1	12.0	-0.9	1.72
2000	2,907,000	31,304	33,501	-2,197	10.8	11.5	-0.7	1.68
2001	2,910,000	30,616	33,249	-2,633	10.5	11.4	-0.9	1.66
2002	2,923,000	30,205	33,314	-3,108	10.3	11.4	-1.1	1.64
2003	2,937,000	31,400	33,810	-2,410	10.7	11.5	-0.8	1.71
2004	2,957,000	32,325	32,317	8	10.9	10.9	0.0	1.76
2005	2,969,000	32,593	32,162	431	11.0	10.8	0.2	1.78
2006	2,985,000	33,628	31,083	2,545	11.3	10.4	1.1	1.82
2007	3,006,000	34,414	32,148	2,266	11.4	10.7	0.7	1.86
2008	3,026,000	35,650	32,066	3,584	11.8	10.6	1.2	1.91
2009	3,039,000	34,937	31,066	3,871	11.5	10.2	1.3	1.87
2010	3,050,000	35,952	31,197	4,755	11.8	10.2	1.6	1.92
2011	3,063,000	35,598	30,426	5,172	11.6	9.9	1.7	1.90
2012	3,074,000	35,238	31,502	3,736	11.5	10.2	1.3	1.88
2013	3,082,000	33,747	32,138	1,609	10.9	10.4	0.5	1.80
2014	3,092,000	33,544	31,439	2,105	10.8	10.2	0.6	1.78
2015	3,099,000	33,279	33,198	81	10.7	10.7	0.0	1.77
2016	3,113,000	32,936	33,047	–111	10.6	10.6	–0.0	1.74
2017	3,125,000	32,176	33,248	−1,072	10.4	10.6	−0.2	1.69
2018	3,139,000	31,274	34,406	–3,132	10.0	11.0	–1.0	1.63
2019	3,153,000	29,704	32,900	-3,196	9.4	10.4	-1.0	1.54
2020	3,170,000	28,638	37,399	-8,761	9.0	11.8	-2.8	1.47
2021	3,107,500	28,781	36,141	-7,360	9.3	11.6	-2.3	1.51
2022	3,131,640	28,296	35,688	-7,392	9.1	11.4	-2.3	1.46
2023	3,164,400	27,374	36,041	-8,667	8.7	11.4	-2.7	1.39
2024	3,192,000	26,832	35,405	-8,573	8.4	11.1	-2.7	1.35
2025			35,767

= Census results.

Current vital statistics

Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January—July 2024		21,483
January—July 2025		21,766
Difference		+283

Place of birth

According to the 2011 census 2.2 million of the usual residents were born in Wales, a reduction of two percent since 2001. In 2001, 590,000 of the population of Wales was born in England. By 2011, the proportion of English-born citizens of Wales had increased by one percent to 21%. In 2011, 27% of the total population of Wales were born outside Wales, and of these immigrants 636,000 were born in England.
Below are the 5 largest foreign-born groups in Wales according to 2014 ONS estimates.

Age

According to the 2011 census, some 563,000 of the population were aged 65 and over, an increase of 56,700 or one percent since 2001. As in 2001, six per cent of the population in Wales were children under five, an increase of 11,300.

Ages attained	Population	% of total
0–4	178,301	5.82
5–9	163,079	5.32
10–14	177,748	5.80
15–19	199,120	6.50
20–24	211,924	6.92
25–29	185,728	6.06
30–34	174,694	5.70
35–39	183,045	5.98
40–44	213,155	6.96
45–49	213,155	7.20
50–54	201,599	6.58
55–59	186,923	6.10
60–64	204,885	6.69
65–69	166,007	5.42
70–74	134,543	4.39
75–79	108,202	3.53
80–84	79,232	2.59
85–89	49,360	1.61
90+	25,200	0.82

National identity

2011

A question on national identity was asked in the 2011 census: "What do you feel is your national identity?" Respondents could identify themselves as having one or more national identity.
An analysis of the 2011 data by Manchester University's Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity revealed that:

58% identified as "Welsh only"
16% identified as "British only"
12% identified as "English only"
7% identified as "Welsh and British"

The remainder chose other national identities. The Welsh-Caribbean population were the most likely to respond as "Welsh Only", at 59% of 11,099 citizens.

2018

A 2018 poll, commissioned by the BBC and carried out by YouGov, found that almost eight in 10 people in Wales identified strongly as British; while six in 10 identified strongly as Welsh.

2020

A 2020 YouGov poll asking a sample of 1110 people "Which, if any, of the following best describes the way you think of yourself?" found the following responses:

21% "Welsh not British"
17% "More Welsh than British"
22% "Equally Welsh and British"
9% "More British than Welsh"
17% "British not Welsh"
11% "Other"
3% "Don't know"

Summary

Total Welsh at all: 69%
Total at least more Welsh than British: 38%
Total at least more British than Welsh: 26%

Ethnicity

According to the 2011 census, 2.2 million of usual residents of Wales were born there, two percent less than in 2001. The change can be attributed to both international and internal migration. In 2001, 590,000 of the population of Wales was born in England. In 2011, this had increased by one percent. Nearly 418,000 people identified themselves as Welsh in 2001. The 1991, 2001 and 2011 census estimated the following ethnic groups:
'''Notes for table above'''

Religion

There are no solid statistics covering Christian denominations in Wales. However it is clear that the Presbyterian Church of Wales, a Nonconformist denomination, and the Church in Wales, part of the Anglican Church, have historically been the largest. Important to Wales have been Nonconformist denominations, which became widespread in the 18th century, and Roman Catholicism until the 16th century. The translation of the Bible into Welsh by William Morgan in 1588 not only helped the survival of the Welsh language but also enabled a faster uptake of Protestantism.
A Jewish community has existed in Wales since the 13th century or earlier, but there are now only about 2,000 Jews left, and most live in the Cardiff area. There used to be enough Jews to sustain synagogues in valley communities like Merthyr Tydfil and Tredegar, but there are now only three active synagogues in the whole country.
Wales before Christianity had a Celtic religion. Wales retained Celtic aspects in the church during the Middle Ages.

Language

The 2011 census collected information about English and Welsh language proficiency. In 2011, 2.9 million of residents age three and over spoke English or Welsh. In a further 18,000 households, at least one adult spoke English or Welsh. In 22,000 households, no resident spoke either language. There were 562,000 residents over age three proficient in at least speaking the Welsh language. This was a reduction of approximately two per cent compared to 2001, though the method of analysis differed between the two censuses. There was also a two per cent increase in those over three years of age who had no Welsh language skills. Similar trend continued in the 2010s, and by the 2021 census proficient in at least speaking Welsh has decreased to about 538,300, about 17.8% of the total number of residents aged three or over.
The most common main languages spoken in Wales according to the 2011 census are shown below.

Language	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
English or Welsh	2,871,405	97.14%
Polish	17,001	0.58%
Arabic	6,800	0.23%
Bengali	5,207	0.18%
Tagalog/Filipino	2,749	0.09%
Portuguese	2,451	0.08%
Urdu	2,350	0.08%
French	2,073	0.07%
German	2,050	0.07%
Italian	1,694	0.06%
Other	42,061	1.42%

Marriage and civil partnership

In 2011, those who were married were still the largest marriage or civil partnership status group in Wales for residents aged 16 and over, though since 2001 this group has decreased by 37,000. In contrast, single people, have increased by 190,000 in the ten-year period. Civil partnerships, which were given legal status in 2005, appear for the first time in the census results. The number of widows, widowers and surviving partners is 20,000 lower than in 2001. The final groups, relating to separation and divorce or legal dissolution of civil partnerships, have both seen an increase in both numerical and relative terms since 2001.
Table key

Single = Single never married or registered a same-sex civil partnership)
Divorced or legally dissolved = divorced or formerly in a same-sex civil partnership which is now legally dissolved
Widowed or surviving partner = Widowed or surviving partner from a same-sex civil partnership
Separated = Separated
Civil partnership = In a registered same-sex civil partnership

Military staff and veterans

Out of all the armed services, the Army has the largest presence in Wales, with over 1,400 personnel based there. As of 2019, there were 3,230 military and civilian personnel based in Wales.
In the 2021 census, around 115,000 people in Wales reported that they had previously served in the armed forces, around 4.5% of usual residents in Wales aged 16 years or older.

Miscellaneous data

Population density : 143 people per square kilometre
Fertility rate: 1.90
In 2010, 58% of births were outside marriage in Wales. Currently, Wales and Scotland are the only countries of the United Kingdom where the majority of births are outside of marriage. Wales also had the highest death rate in 2005.