Sexual orientation, further personal characteristics, England and Wales: Census 2021

Note: Unless stated otherwise, all comparisons in these "Main points" relate to people aged 16 years and over.

• People who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or another minority sexual orientation (LGB+) were more likely to be disabled than the overall population of England and Wales; the largest differences were among 16- to 24-year-olds, where 32.4% of people who identified as LGB+ were disabled compared with 12.6% in the overall population of the same age.

• Across most age groups, people who identified as LGB+ were less likely to have very good or good health than the overall population of England and Wales of the same age.

• People who identified with "Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups" were more likely to identify as LGB+ than the overall population of England and Wales; this is likely to be related to the younger age profiles of both these groups.

• Reporting "No religion" was more common among people who identified as LGB+ than among the overall population of England and Wales; this was true across all age groups.

• People who identified as gay or lesbian were more likely than the overall population of England and Wales to be in employment (70.4% compared with 57.2%) and, of those in employment, had a higher percentage working as "managers, directors and senior officials" (15.2% compared with 12.8%).

• Among people who identified as LGB+, being a student was a more common reason for being economically inactive than among the overall population of England and Wales, likely because of their relatively young age profile.

Census 2021 included a voluntary question about sexual orientation, which was only asked of people aged 16 years and over.

Overall, 43.4 million (89.4%) usual residents aged 16 years and over said they were straight or heterosexual, 3.6 million people (7.5%) did not respond to the question (referred to in this article as "not answered"), and 1.5 million (3.2%) identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or another sexual orientation (LGB+).

Within the LGB+ group:

• 748,000 said they were gay or lesbian (1.5% of all usual residents)

• 624,000 said they were bisexual (1.3%)

• 165,000 said they were of another sexual orientation (0.3%), referred to in this article as "other sexual orientation"

In this article, we report on the usual resident population of England and Wales aged 16 years and over, to allow direct comparison with the sexual orientation statistics. This includes people of all sexual orientations as well as the 7.5% who did not answer the question about sexual orientation. Percentages are also calculated out of this overall population aged 16 years and over, not just out of those who answered the sexual orientation question.

The importance of age and sex to the results

Throughout we flag where the age and sex distributions of each sexual orientation are important for interpretation. People who identified as LGB+ were younger on average, with a far higher proportion aged between 16 and 34 years (57.9%) than in the overall population of England and Wales (29.6%). However, different LGB+ sexual orientation groups had markedly different age distributions. Further analysis is available in our article Sexual orientation: age and sex, England and Wales: Census 2021.

Figure 1: People who identified as LGB+ were much younger than the overall population of England and Wales

Percentage of people aged 16 years and over by sexual orientation and age, England and Wales, Census 2021

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People who identified as gay or lesbian were more likely to be men (61.5%) than women (38.5%). In contrast, those who said they were bisexual or had “other sexual orientations” were more likely to be women (70.5% and 62.1%, respectively) than men (29.5% and 37.9%, respectively).

People who identified as LGB+ were more likely to be disabled than the overall population of England and Wales

Despite having a younger than average age profile, which is generally associated with lower levels of disability, 28.8% of people who identified as LGB+ were disabled, compared with 20.1% of the overall population. Breaking down the LGB+ group, even higher proportions of people who identified as bisexual or with "other sexual orientations" were disabled (34.1% and 36.1%, respectively).

For level of limitation, 19.4% of people who identified as LGB+ had a disability that limited day-to-day activities a little, compared with 11.5% of the overall population of England and Wales. Those identifying as LGB+ were also more likely to have disabilities that limited day-to-day activities a lot (9.4% compared with 8.6% of the overall population).

Figure 2: Women who identified with "other sexual orientations" or as bisexual were more likely than other women and men to be disabled

Percentage of people aged 16 years and over of each sexual orientation who were disabled by sex, England and Wales, Census 2021

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Greater proportions of women than men who identified as LGB+ were disabled (33.8% compared with 22.9%). This reflects the sex-specific pattern in the overall population of England and Wales, where 22.0% of women and 18.0% of men were disabled. However, the differences between the proportions of LGB+ women and men who were disabled were larger than between women and men in the overall population (10.9 and 4.0 percentage points, respectively).

Figure 3: 16- to 24-year-olds who identified as LGB+ were much more likely to be disabled than the overall population of England and Wales of the same age

Percentage of people aged 16 years and over of each sexual orientation who were disabled by age, England and Wales, Census 2021

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Notes:

1. Figures are the combination of “Disabled; limited a lot” and “Disabled; limited a little”.

Higher proportions of people who identified as LGB+ were disabled across all age groups, except for those aged 75 years and over. The largest differences were in the youngest age group. Among 16- to 24-year-olds, 32.4% of people who identified as LGB+ were disabled, compared with 12.6% in the overall population of the same age. Breaking down the LGB+ group, 25.2% of people aged 16 to 24 years who identified as gay or lesbian were disabled. Among people of this age who identified as bisexual or “other sexual orientations”, the percentages disabled (34.3% and 41.6%, respectively) were around three times larger than in the overall population aged 16 to 24 years.

It is also notable that, among people who identified as gay or lesbian or with “other sexual orientations”, 16- to 24-year-olds were substantially more likely to be disabled than those in some of the subsequent age groups.

Among people who identified as LGB+, the proportion who reported very good or good health was almost the same as in the overall population of England and Wales (78.5% compared with 78.6%). This is despite those identifying as LGB+ tending to be younger than average and younger people being more likely to report very good or good health.

People who identified as gay or lesbian had the highest percentage reporting very good or good health of any sexual orientation group (81.3%). In contrast, people who identified as bisexual (76.6%) or with "other sexual orientations" (73.1%) had the lowest percentages reporting very good or good health.

Figure 4: The population group least likely to report very good or good health was women who identified with "other sexual orientations"

Percentage of people aged 16 years and over of each sexual orientation by general health status and sex, England and Wales, Census 2021

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Among people who identified as gay or lesbian or with "other sexual orientations", men were more likely than women to report very good or good health. This mirrors the sex pattern in the overall population of England and Wales, where women were slightly less likely than men to report very good or good general health. Further analysis is available in General health by age, sex and deprivation, England and Wales: Census 2021. In contrast, among people who identified as bisexual, around the same proportion of men and women reported very good or good health.

Figure 5: People identifying as LGB+ were less likely to report very good or good health across all age groups other than ages 75 years and over

Percentage of people aged 16 years and over of each sexual orientation who reported very good or good health by age, England and Wales, Census 2021

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Notes:

1. Figures are the combination "very good" and "good" general health only. They exclude the percentages reporting: "fair", "bad", and "very bad" health.

When the figures are broken down by age, people identifying as LGB+ were less likely to report very good or good health compared with people of the same age in the overall population of England and Wales, except among those aged 75 years and over. This was particularly true for those who identified as bisexual or with “other sexual orientations”. This is consistent with the findings from our analysis in Section 3: Disability

The most common of the 19 tick-box ethnic groups among people who identified as LGB+ was “White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, or British” (74.9% compared with 76.0% of the overall population of England and Wales). The next most common ethnic group for both the LGB+ population and the overall population was “White: Other White” (9.6% and 6.4%, respectively).

However, the “other sexual orientations” group had greater ethnic diversity than the other LGB+ groups and than the overall population of England and Wales.

Figure 6: People who identified as any “Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups” were most likely to identify as LGB+

Percentage of people aged 16 years and over who identified with each ethnic group, by LGB+ sexual orientation, England and Wales, Census 2021

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Many ethnic groups had higher proportions of people who identified as LGB+ compared with the overall population of England and Wales, particularly all the "Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups". A likely explanatory factor is that people who identified as LGB+ and those who identified with "Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups" were both much younger than average.

While a slightly higher proportion of people said they were gay or lesbian than bisexual in the overall population of England and Wales, the reverse was seen in many ethnic groups. This was particularly the case among those who identified as Bangladeshi, Indian or Pakistani within the high-level "Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh" ethnic group.

Figure 7: Having "No religion" was more frequent among people who identified as LGB+ across all age groups

Percentage of people aged 16 years and over who reported "No religion" by sexual orientation and age, England and Wales, Census 2021

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Among people who identified as LGB+, "No religion" was the most frequent response (62.8%), followed by Christian (25.8%). This differs from the overall population of England and Wales, where 35.7% reported "No religion" and 48.7% identified as Christian.

Our article Religion by age and sex, England and Wales: Census 2021 showed that people who reported "No religion" were younger than the overall population of England and Wales. People who identified as LGB+ were also younger than average. Although age could partly explain the higher proportion of those identifying as LGB+ who reported "No religion", the proportion was in fact higher across all age groups.

When looking at people who identified with different religions, there were marked differences in the proportions identifying as LGB+. People who identified as Christian, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh were less likely to identify as LGB+ than the overall population of England and Wales. In contrast, those who identified as Buddhist or Jewish, and those reporting “No religion” and any “Other religion” were more likely to identify as LGB+ than the overall population.

Employment status

Of all sexual orientation groups, people who identified as gay or lesbian were most likely to be in employment, including self-employed (70.4% compared with 57.2% in the overall population of England and Wales). They were also the least likely to be economically inactive (24.8% compared with 39.4% in the overall population). The fact that there were more people who identified as gay or lesbian in working age groups and fewer in older age groups is likely to explain this. In the overall population of England and Wales, most economically inactive people are older retirees.

People who identified as bisexual or "other sexual orientations" were more than twice as likely to be unemployed (7.8% and 7.1%, respectively) as the overall population of England and Wales (3.5%). With around one-third of people in both of these groups aged below 25 years, age will again be important for interpretation, with unemployment being most prevalent among younger people. Our article Diversity in the labour market, England and Wales: Census 2021 explores these age effects further.

For sex differences, a smaller percentage of women who identified as LGB+ than men were in employment (61.1% compared with 67.1%). This reflects the sex-specific pattern in the overall population of England and Wales (53.2% of women and 61.4% of men were in employment). However, sex differences between the proportions of LGB+ women and men in employment were smaller than in the overall population of England and Wales (6.0 percentage points compared with 8.2, respectively).

Women who identified as LGB+ were also more likely than LGB+ men to be economically inactive (32.4% of women and 26.9% of men). This mirrors the pattern in the overall population of England and Wales (in which 43.8% of all women and 34.7% of all men were economically inactive). These sex differences were again smaller among people who identified as LGB+ than in the overall population (5.5 and 9.1 percentage points, respectively).

Reason for economic inactivity

Because of their relatively young age profile, the economic inactivity reasons were different for economically inactive people who identified as LGB+ than for all economically inactive people in the England and Wales population.

Being a student was the most common reason for being economically inactive among people who identified as bisexual or with "other sexual orientations" (51.2% and 41.1%, respectively, compared with 14.3% in the economically inactive population of England and Wales). Being retired was the least common reason in the same groups (at 7.3% and 7.8%, respectively, compared with 55.0%).

Among economically inactive people who identified as gay or lesbian, roughly the same percentage were retired or a student (28.8% and 28.0%, respectively). This group also had the smallest percentage who were economically inactive because they were looking after the home or family.

Economically inactive people who identified as LGB+ had the highest percentages who were long-term sick or disabled, consistent with our findings in Section 3: Disability.

Broad occupation group

For people in employment, "professional occupations" were the most common among all sexual orientation groups and the overall population of England and Wales. These occupations include a wide range of jobs such as doctors and nurses, legal professionals, and teachers. Among people in employment who identified as LGB+, 23.8% worked in professional occupations, compared with 20.2% in the overall population of England and Wales.

People in employment who identified as gay or lesbian were more likely to work as "managers, directors and senior officials" than the overall population of England and Wales

People in employment who identified as gay or lesbian had the highest percentage of all sexual orientation groups working as "managers, directors and senior officials" (15.2%, compared with 12.8% of the overall population in employment in England and Wales). This occupation group includes a wide range of roles from chief executives to elected officials, which are typically among the highest-paid roles.

People in employment who identified with "other sexual orientations" or as bisexual had the highest percentage of all sexual orientation groups working in "elementary occupations" (14.7% and 12.6%, respectively, compared with 10.5% of the overall population in employment in England and Wales). Given the younger age profile of these groups, this finding was particularly the case for those aged 16 to 24 years. These occupations are typically among the lowest-paid roles, and include jobs such as waiters or waitresses, bar staff, and cleaners, with previous analysis also showing that such roles are more dependent on younger than older workers.

Working in skilled trades occupations was less frequent among employed people who identified as gay or lesbian, or as bisexual

People in employment who identified as gay or lesbian (4.3%) or bisexual (4.5%) were half as likely to work in "skilled trades occupations" as the overall population in employment in England and Wales (10.3%). This was particularly the case for men in employment; the percentage of men who identified as gay or lesbian who worked in such occupations (4.4%) was around a quarter of that among men in the overall population in employment (17.6%). The percentage of bisexual men working in such occupations was around half the size (9.5%). Skilled trades occupations include jobs such as plumbers, roofers and car technicians.

Several other variables appear in the accompanying datasets. This is a summary of our main findings from them.

Highest level of qualification held

A higher percentage of people who identified as gay or lesbian (47.4%), bisexual (40.4%), or with "other sexual orientations" (39.4%) had "Level 4" qualifications or above, including degrees, than the overall population of England and Wales (33.8%). "Level 4" qualifications or above include undergraduate and higher degrees (BA, BSc, MA, PhD, PGCE), NVQ Level 4 to 5, HNC, HND, RSA Higher Diploma, BTEC Higher level, and professional qualifications (for example, teaching, nursing, accountancy).

Legal partnership status

About three-quarters of people who identified as bisexual (75.5%), gay or lesbian (71.5%), or with "other sexual orientations" (70.4%) had never been married or registered a civil partnership, compared with just 37.9% of the overall population of England and Wales. Analysis of same-sex partnerships is available in Marriage and civil partnership status in England and Wales: Census 2021.

Family status

People who identified as LGB+ were less likely to live in a couple family as a member of the couple (38.3% compared with 56.6% of the overall population of England and Wales). They were more likely to live in a communal establishment (4.6% compared with 2.1% of the overall population). LGB+ people were also more likely to be living in households but "not in a family" (34.7% compared with 21.5% of the overall population of England and Wales). Again, the younger average age of people who identified as LGB+ is likely to contribute to this. Analysis of same-sex families is also available in Families in England and Wales: Census 2021.

Child family status

People who identified as LGB+ were also less likely to have children they lived with in any family type. Around one in five people who identified as bisexual (19.2%) or with "other sexual orientations" (20.3%) had children they lived with. For those who identified as gay or lesbian, it was fewer than 1 in 10 (7.4%). This compared with 34.4% of the overall population of England and Wales.

Similarities

The largest ethnic groups in England and in Wales for all LGB+ groups were the same: “White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British” and “White: Other White”. “No religion” was the most frequent response to the religion question among LGB+ groups in both countries (with age being an important factor).

The highest percentages in employment were among gay or lesbian people, both in England (70.6%) and in Wales (66.5%).

England and Wales also had broadly similar patterns when looking at highest level of qualification, family status and child family status by sexual orientation.

Differences

Higher proportions of those identifying as LGB+ in Wales were disabled than in England, which is also true of the population overall. The largest difference of around 10 percentage points was in the “other sexual orientations” group (46.4% in Wales and 35.7% in England).

In England the percentage of bisexual people in employment (58.4%) was slightly higher than the percentage in employment in the overall England population (57.4%). In Wales this was reversed (51.6% among bisexual people and 53.5% in the overall Wales population). These differences are largely explained by rates of economic inactivity in Wales being higher than in England, rather than unemployment. Among bisexual people, 40.1% in Wales were economically inactive compared with 33.8% in England. As discussed in Section 7: Labour market characteristics, age is likely an important factor, with bisexual people most likely to be inactive because of being a student.

Considering legal partnerships, there were some differences in the proportions of people who identified with “other sexual orientations” who were married, with those in England more likely to be married than those in Wales.

Child family status

This describes whether or not a person is living in a family with a child in it and, if they are, what type of family that person is living in.

Disability status

In Census 2021, people who assessed their day-to-day activities as limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses were considered disabled. This definition of a disabled person meets the Government Statistical Service harmonised standard for measuring disability and is in line with the Equality Act (2010). This requires that a person has a physical or mental impairment, and that the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out day-to-day activities. Therefore, those reporting conditions that limited their day-to-day activities a little or a lot were classified as disabled. People who had no long-term physical or mental health conditions, or who had conditions that did not limit their day-to-day activities, were classified as non-disabled.

Economically inactive

People aged 16 years and over who did not have a job between 15 and 21 March 2021 and had not looked for work between 22 February and 21 March 2021 or could not start work within two weeks.

Economically inactive people could state that, between 15 and 21 March 2021, they were:

• retired

• studying

• looking after home or family

• long-term sick or disabled

• other

For definitions of labour market variables more generally, see our Guide to labour market statistics.

Employment

The number of people aged 16 years and over who carried out paid work as an employee or as self-employed. It also includes those who had a job that they were temporarily away from.

Ethnic group

The ethnic group that the person completing the census feels they belong to. This could be based on their culture, family background, identity or physical appearance.

Respondents could choose 1 out of 19 tick-box response categories, including write-in response options.

Family status

A family is a group of people who are either:

• a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children (the children do not need to belong to both members of the couple)

• a lone parent with children

• a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with grandchildren but where the parents of those grandchildren are not present

• a single or couple grandparent with grandchildren but where the parents of those grandchildren are not present

General health status

A person's assessment of the general state of their health from very good to very bad. This assessment is not based on a person's health over any specified period of time.

Legal partnership status

Classifies a person according to their legal marital or registered civil partnership status on Census Day 21 March 2021.

It is the same as the 2011 Census variable "Marital status" but has been updated for Census 2021 to reflect the revised Civil Partnership Act that came into force in 2019.

In Census 2021 results, "single" refers only to someone who has never been married or in a registered civil partnership.

LGB+

An abbreviation used to refer to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other minority sexual orientations (for example, asexual).

Occupation

Classifies what people, aged 16 years and over, do as their primary job. Their job title or details of the activities they do in their job, and any supervisory or management responsibilities form this classification. This information is used to code responses to an occupation using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020.

It classifies people who were in employment between 15 and 21 March 2021, by the SOC code that represents their current occupation. The lowest level of detail available is the four-digit SOC code, which includes all codes in three-, two- and one-digit SOC levels.

Religion

The religion people connect or identify with (their religious affiliation), whether or not they practise or have belief in it.

This question was voluntary, and the variable includes people who answered the question, including "No religion", alongside those who chose not to answer this question.

This variable classifies responses into the eight tick-box response options. Write-in responses are classified by their "parent" religious affiliation, including "No religion", where applicable.

Sexual orientation 

Sexual orientation is an umbrella term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. For an individual respondent, these may not be the same. For example, someone in an opposite-sex relationship may also experience same-sex attraction, and the other way around. This means the statistics should be interpreted purely as showing how people responded to the question, rather than being about whom they are attracted to or their actual relationships.

We have not provided glossary entries for individual sexual orientation categories. This is because individual respondents may have differing perspectives on the exact meaning.

Unemployment

People without a job, but who were actively looking for work between 22 February and 21 March 2021 and could start within two weeks. They are also people who had found a job and were waiting to start it in the two weeks after Census Day, 21 March 2021.

Usual resident

A usual resident is anyone who on Census Day, 21 March 2021, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more or had a permanent UK address.

The census provides the most detailed picture of the entire population, with the same core questions asked to everybody across England and Wales. Census results can be more reliable than survey results based on a sample of the population, because the whole population is included. The UK Statistics Authority has assigned National Statistics status to Census 2021 outputs, providing assurance that these statistics are of the highest quality and value to users. 

Census 2021 achieved a very high response rate of 97%. We ensure the census results reflect the whole population by using statistical methods to estimate the number and characteristics of people who were not recorded on a census response. This means that the census statistics are estimates rather than simple counts of responses, so they have some statistical uncertainty associated with them. We take numerous steps to minimise possible sources of error.

Additionally, we apply statistical disclosure control to protect the confidentiality of census respondents. Read more in our Protecting personal data in Census 2021 results methodology. Differences in the methods used for statistical disclosure control may result in minor differences in data totals between census products. As we round all figures individually, table totals may not sum exactly. Age-standardised and age-specific percentages were calculated based on these rounded numbers.

Quality considerations, along with the strengths and limitations of Census 2021 more generally, can be found in our Quality and Methodology Information (QMI) for Census 2021. Further information on our quality assurance processes is provided in our Maximising the quality of Census 2021 population estimates report.

Census 2021 was conducted during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a period of rapid change, and it is possible that this affected the way some people responded to the labour market questions on the census. Read more in our Labour market quality information for Census 2021. Estimates from the census will also differ to those collected on the Labour Force Survey, because of a range of conceptual differences between the two sources. Please see Comparing Census 2021 and Labour Force Survey estimates of the labour market, England and Wales: 13 March 2021 for further information about interpreting census labour market data. Additional information on the quality of demographic variables, such as legal partnership, can be found in our Demography and migration quality information for Census 2021.

Not answered

As sexual orientation was a voluntary question in the census, missing values on census responses were legitimate responses. So, unlike with mandatory questions, we did not impute values to replace those missing on received responses. This means that these questions include a "not answered" category in standard outputs. Any write-in responses that did not relate to the question were coded as if the question had not been answered.

Data collection and coding

Answers for the sexual orientation question did not always correspond to well-defined concepts and write-in answers have been coded, both automatically and manually, to categories shown in published tables. While overall estimates for this topic are consistent with other available sources, it is possible that the comparability of individuals' responses was affected by different interpretations of the question. It is also possible that proxy responses for these sensitive topics may be less accurate than for other topics. A proxy response is where someone has answered the census questions on behalf of someone else.

Read more about the Sexual orientation and gender identity quality information for Census 2021.