Main language (detailed)

Dataset ID:
TS024
Released:
Last updated:
— See version history

Summary

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents aged 3 years and over in England and Wales by their main language. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

Variable and dataset information

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Lower tier local authorities

Lower tier local authorities provide a range of local services. There are 309 lower tier local authorities in England made up of 181 non-metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts and 33 London boroughs (including City of London). In Wales there are 22 local authorities made up of 22 unitary authorities.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. However, you can choose to filter areas by:

  • country - for example, Wales
  • region - for example, London
  • local authority - for example, Cornwall
  • health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
  • statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

Main language (detailed)

A person's first or preferred language.

This breaks down the responses given in the write-in option "Other, write in (including British Sign Language)".

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Variables

Population type
All usual residents aged 3 years and over
Area type
Lower tier local authorities
Coverage
England and Wales
Main language (detailed)
95 Categories
  • English (English or Welsh in Wales)
  • Welsh or Cymraeg (in England only)
  • Other UK language: Gaelic (Irish)
  • Other UK language: Gaelic (Scottish)
  • Other UK language: Manx Gaelic
  • Other UK language: Gaelic (Not otherwise specified)
  • Other UK language: Cornish
  • Other UK language: Scots
  • Other UK language: Ulster Scots
  • Other UK language: Romany English
  • Other UK language: Irish Traveller Cant
  • French
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish
  • Other European language (EU): Italian
  • Other European language (EU): German
  • Other European language (EU): Polish
  • Other European language (EU): Slovak
  • Other European language (EU): Czech
  • Other European language (EU): Romanian
  • Other European language (EU): Lithuanian
  • Other European language (EU): Latvian
  • Other European language (EU): Hungarian
  • Other European language (EU): Bulgarian
  • Other European language (EU): Greek
  • Other European language (EU): Dutch
  • Other European language (EU): Swedish
  • Other European language (EU): Danish
  • Other European language (EU): Finnish
  • Other European language (EU): Estonian
  • Other European language (EU): Slovenian
  • Other European language (EU): Maltese
  • Other European language (EU): Any other European language (EU)
  • Other European language (non EU): Albanian
  • Other European language (non EU): Ukrainian
  • Other European language (non EU): Any other Eastern European language (non EU)
  • Other European language (non EU): Northern European language (non EU)
  • Other European language (EU and non-EU): Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, and Montenegrin
  • Other European language (non-national): Any Romani language
  • Other European language (non-national): Yiddish
  • Russian
  • Turkish
  • Arabic
  • West or Central Asian language: Hebrew
  • West or Central Asian language: Kurdish
  • West or Central Asian language: Persian or Farsi
  • West or Central Asian language: Pashto
  • West or Central Asian language: Any other West or Central Asian language
  • South Asian language: Urdu
  • South Asian language: Hindi
  • South Asian language: Panjabi
  • South Asian language: Pakistani Pahari (with Mirpuri and Potwari)
  • South Asian language: Bengali (with Sylheti and Chatgaya)
  • South Asian language: Gujarati
  • South Asian language: Marathi
  • South Asian language: Telugu
  • South Asian language: Tamil
  • South Asian language: Malayalam
  • South Asian language: Sinhala
  • South Asian language: Nepalese
  • South Asian language: Any other South Asian language
  • East Asian language: Mandarin Chinese
  • East Asian language: Cantonese Chinese
  • East Asian language: All other Chinese
  • East Asian language: Japanese
  • East Asian language: Korean
  • East Asian language: Vietnamese
  • East Asian language: Thai
  • East Asian language: Malay
  • East Asian language: Tagalog or Filipino
  • East Asian language: Any other East Asian language
  • Oceanic or Australian language
  • North or South American language
  • Caribbean Creole: English-based Caribbean Creole
  • Caribbean Creole: Any other Caribbean Creole
  • African language: Amharic
  • African language: Tigrinya
  • African language: Somali
  • African language: Krio
  • African language: Akan
  • African language: Yoruba
  • African language: Igbo
  • African language: Swahili or Kiswahili
  • African language: Luganda
  • African language: Lingala
  • African language: Shona
  • African language: Afrikaans
  • African language: Any other Nigerian language
  • African language: Any other West African language
  • African language: Any other African language
  • Sign language: British Sign Language
  • Sign language: Any other sign language
  • Sign language: Any sign communication system
  • Other language
  • Does not apply
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Protecting personal data

Sometimes we need to make changes to data if it is possible to identify individuals. This is known as statistical disclosure control.

In Census 2021, we:

  • swapped records (targeted record swapping), for example, if a household was likely to be identified in datasets because it has unusual characteristics, we swapped the record with a similar one from a nearby small area (very unusual households could be swapped with one in a nearby local authority)
  • added small changes to some counts (cell key perturbation), for example, we might change a count of four to a three or a five – this might make small differences between tables depending on how the data are broken down when we applied perturbation

Read more in Section 5 of our article Design for Census 2021.

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Version history

Release date Reason for update
Version superseded
Version superseded
Original release
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Related content

Language, England and Wales: Census 2021
Main language, English language proficiency, and household language in England and Wales, Census 2021 data.

Census 2021 dictionary
Detailed information about variables, definitions and classifications to help when using Census 2021 data.

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Dataset link

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ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS024/editions/2021/versions/3

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