Main languages from Census 2011 and 2021

FOI Ref: FOI/2022/4008

You asked

​Please supply the following information:

1) How many people declare Tagalog as their main language in 2011 and 2021 census respectively?

2) How many people declare Vietnamese as their main language in 2011 and 2021 census respectively?

3) How many people declare Cantonese as their main language in 2011 and 2021 census respectively?

4) How many people declare Mandarin as their main language in 2011 and 2021 census respectively?

5) How many people declare Hakka as their main language in 2011 and 2021 census respectively?

6) How many people declare Malay as their main language in 2011 and 2021 census respectively?

7) How many people declare Korean as their main language in 2011 and 2021 census respectively?

8) How many people declare Japanese as their main language in 2011 and 2021 census respectively?

We said

Thank you for your request.

Please find attached an extract from 2011 Census table QS204EW - Main language (detailed) which details the main language of all usual residents aged 3 and over for the languages specified, in England and Wales.

However, there are no counts for Hakka. When the forms were coded and processed for main language, Hakka was allocated to East Asian Language: East Asian Language (all other). Once this has happened, we lose the ability to carry out any further analysis. Hakka does not have an individual code to allow us to do so.

The statistics provided have been downloaded from the Nomis website. Nomis is a service run on behalf of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) by Durham University.

Census 2021 statistics are not yet available. We aim to release the first results for Census 2021 data on the population of England and Wales in early summer 2022, and to publish all other main Census 2021 data within two years of census.

As such, information for 2021 is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.

This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest.  This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.