Spotlight
Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021
What's in the bulletin?
- In 2021, 81.7% (48.7 million) of usual residents in England and Wales identified their ethnic group within the high-level “White” category, a decrease from 86.0% (48.2 million) in the 2011 Census.
- As part of the “White” ethnic group, 74.4% (44.4 million) of the total population in England and Wales identified their ethnic group as “English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British”, this is a continued decrease from 80.5% (45.1 million) in 2011, and from 87.5% (45.5 million) who identified this way in 2001.
- The next most common high-level ethnic group was “Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh” accounting for 9.3% (5.5 million) of the overall population, this ethnic group also saw the largest percentage point increase from 2011, up from 7.5% (4.2 million people).
National identity, England and Wales: Census 2021
What's in the bulletin?
- In 2021, 90.3% (53.8 million) of usual residents identified with at least one UK national identity (English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British, and Cornish); this is a slight decrease from 92.0% (51.6 million) in 2011.
- People who identified with at least one UK and one non-UK identity accounted for 2.0% of the overall population (1.2 million people) in 2021; this is an increase from 0.9% (492,000) in 2011.
- Those selecting a non-UK identity only accounted for 9.7% of the overall population (5.8 million people), which is an increase from 8.0% of the population (4.5 million people) in 2011.
Developing admin-based ethnicity statistics for England and Wales
Research update on producing population statistics by ethnic group for England and Wales from administrative data, with comparisons with Census 2021 estimates.
Datasets related to Ethnicity
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Coronavirus and the social impacts on different ethnic groups in the UK
Estimates from the Understanding Society: COVID-19 Study, 2020, UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) and Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) to explore the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people from different ethnic groups in the UK.
Publications related to Ethnicity
Statistical bulletins
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Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021
The ethnic groups of usual residents and household ethnic composition in England and Wales, Census 2021 data.
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National identity, England and Wales: Census 2021
The national identity of usual residents in England and Wales, Census 2021 data.
Articles
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Developing admin-based ethnicity statistics for England and Wales
Research update on producing population statistics by ethnic group for England and Wales from administrative data, with comparisons with Census 2021 estimates.
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Quality of ethnicity data in health-related administrative data sources, England
Comparing the quality of ethnicity data recorded in health-related administrative data sources with Census 2021.
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Producing admin-based ethnicity statistics for England: changes to data and methods
An overview of the changes to data sources and methods in the feasibility research on producing statistics on the population by ethnic group from administrative data.
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Research report on population estimates by ethnic group and religion
Office for National Statistics research work on a simple method for producing population estimates by ethnic group and religion.
Methodology related to Ethnicity
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