Annual Population Survey - Ability to read, write and understand spoken Welsh by age, sex and year

Standard shorthand is used in this table: [a] = average, [r] = revised, [t] = total, [u] = low reliability.

Data values	Data description	Welsh Skill	Age	Sex	Year
34.7 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 16-24	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
21.6 [a]	Percentage	Write Welsh	Total	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
103,700 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 45-54	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
37.8	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 3-15	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
18.2	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 45-54	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
24.4 [a]	Percentage	Write Welsh	Total	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
73,300	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 16-24	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
52,600	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 35-44	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
50,600	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 55-64	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
42.2	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 3-15	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
20.1	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 35-44	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
22.3	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 45-54	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
20.1	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 55-64	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
23.0 [a]	Percentage	Write Welsh	Total	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
438,200 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Total	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
135,800 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 16-24	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
52,700	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 25-34	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
59,400	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 35-44	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
54,900	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 45-54	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
53,700	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 55-64	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
60,300	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 65+	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
40.0 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 3-15	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
20.8 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 25-34	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
18.6 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 35-44	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
17.0	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 35-44	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
20.3 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 45-54	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
935,600 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Total	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
21.4	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 55-64	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
23.3	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 65+	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
21.8	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 65+	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
36,200	Number	Write Welsh	Age 25-34	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
497,400 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Total	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
64,300 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Age 25-34	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
119,800	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 3-15	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
62,500	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 16-24	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
96,200 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 25-34	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
43,600	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 25-34	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
112,000 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 35-44	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
33,000	Number	Write Welsh	Age 55-64	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
187,800 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Age 3-15	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
48,800	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 45-54	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
104,400 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 55-64	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
29,200	Number	Write Welsh	Age 45-54	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
79,800	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 65+	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
63,200 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Age 55-64	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
24.0 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Total	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
91,800 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Age 65+	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
30.9	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 16-24	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
22.5	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 25-34	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
19.2 [u]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 25-34	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
39,300	Number	Read Welsh	Age 25-34	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
76,800 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Age 55-64	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
30,200	Number	Write Welsh	Age 55-64	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
32,300 [u]	Number	Read Welsh	Age 25-34	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
54,100	Number	Write Welsh	Age 65+	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
52,900	Number	Read Welsh	Age 16-24	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
20.8 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 55-64	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
43,500	Number	Read Welsh	Age 35-44	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
22.6 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 65+	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
77,600 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Age 45-54	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
37,700	Number	Write Welsh	Age 65+	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
62,900	Number	Write Welsh	Age 16-24	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
652,500 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Total	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
78,600 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Age 35-44	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
91,000	Number	Write Welsh	Age 3-15	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
297,600 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Total	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
40,200	Number	Read Welsh	Age 55-64	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
395,100 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Total	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
243,400 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 3-15	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
123,600	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 3-15	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
71,700 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Age 25-34	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
36,200	Number	Write Welsh	Age 35-44	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
43,400	Number	Read Welsh	Age 45-54	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
28,100 [u]	Number	Write Welsh	Age 25-34	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
66,400 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Age 35-44	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
117,700 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Age 16-24	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
36,600	Number	Read Welsh	Age 55-64	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
354,900 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Total	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
192,000 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Age 3-15	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
35,100	Number	Read Welsh	Age 35-44	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
726,200 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Total	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
98,900	Number	Read Welsh	Age 3-15	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
64,800	Number	Read Welsh	Age 16-24	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
64,800 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Age 45-54	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
93,000	Number	Read Welsh	Age 3-15	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
30,200	Number	Write Welsh	Age 35-44	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
111,900 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Age 65+	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
35,600	Number	Write Welsh	Age 45-54	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
65,000	Number	Read Welsh	Age 65+	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
140,200 [t]	Number	Understand spoken Welsh	Age 65+	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
34,200	Number	Read Welsh	Age 45-54	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
96,800	Number	Write Welsh	Age 3-15	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
25.6 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Total	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
27.2 [a]	Percentage	Read Welsh	Total	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
114,200 [t]	Number	Write Welsh	Age 16-24	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
51,200	Number	Write Welsh	Age 16-24	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
46,900	Number	Read Welsh	Age 65+	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
38.6	Percentage	Read Welsh	Age 16-24	Female	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
331,200 [t]	Number	Read Welsh	Total	Male	Year ending 31 Dec 2004
39.1 [a]	Percentage	Write Welsh	Age 3-15	Total	Year ending 31 Dec 2004

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Main information

• Most recent update: 25 September 2025
• Next update expected: 9 October 2025
• Designation: Official statistics
• Data provider: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
• Data source: Annual Population Survey (APS)

Data notes

• Revisions:
  • 25 September 2025
  • 25 September 2025
• Rounding applied:

  Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and so there may be some apparent slight discrepancies between the sum of constituent items and the totals as shown.

Overview

• Summary of dataset and variables:

  This dataset shows how many people aged 3 or older say they can read, write, and understand spoken Welsh. Figures are for each year ending date.

  The information is broken down by:

  • Age group – the age range people belong to.
  • Sex – whether people are male or female.
  • Year ending – the period the estimate relates to (for example, year ending 31 March 2023).
  • Measure – the estimated number or percentage of people aged 3 or older who report being able to read, write and understand spoken Welsh.

  You can use this dataset to see how Welsh language skills differ between age groups, between men and women, and how it changes over time.

• Data collection or calculation:

  The data come from the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is an annual dataset derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Local authority level data have been available since 2001, when an enhanced sample (around 350% larger than the standard survey) was introduced.

  Since 2004, the APS has been produced on a rolling annual basis, with each rolling annual average covering a 12-month period and updated every three months. This provides more timely data while overlapping periods by nine months. The rolling dataset is boosted with additional sampled respondents to improve the robustness of estimates, particularly for local-level geographies.

  For the years 2001–2003, Welsh-specific weights are applied to better reflect population figures for local authorities.

  In mid-March 2020, APS interviews switched from face-to-face to telephone because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ONS monitored the impact and re-weighted the data accordingly. Face-to-face interviews were reintroduced in autumn 2023. Comparing pre-2020 face-to-face interviews with telephone interviews suggested a slight increase in respondents reporting Welsh-speaking ability, so caution is advised when interpreting trends across this period.

  The survey collects information on the population’s ability to speak Welsh. Respondents aged 3 or older are asked whether they can speak Welsh, and estimates are presented as counts or percentages of Welsh speakers.

  Standard analysis and weighting methods are applied to ensure the estimates are representative of the population.

• Statistical quality:

  These estimates were previously classified as accredited official statistics. Due to a fall in sample sizes in the Annual Population Survey (APS) in recent years, and because the survey has not been reweighted to the latest population estimates, this accreditation has been temporarily suspended. The estimates are now designated as official statistics.

  The statistics remain suitable for use, but users should note that there is increased uncertainty, particularly for smaller geographic areas or population sub-groups, where estimates are less reliable. Trends should be considered alongside other sources of information on Welsh speakers, such as the National Survey for Wales. The Welsh Government considers the census of population to be the key source of information to measure the number of Welsh speakers in Wales.

  All APS data are sample-based, meaning results are estimates rather than exact counts. The true value of any measure lies within a range around the estimate, with variability increasing as data become more detailed. For example, local authority-level estimates are subject to greater uncertainty than national-level estimates.

  APS responses are weighted to official population projections. Initially, 2020 data were based on 2018 population projections, which did not account for changes from the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, APS data were reweighted using updated population estimates derived from HM Revenue and Customs Real Time Information (RTI), improving accuracy for overall rates and levels.

  These changes reduce potential bias in higher-level aggregates, but some smaller breakdowns may still be affected due to reduced sample sizes during the pandemic, leading to more extreme variation in estimates.

• Related reports:
  • Data am y Gymraeg o'r Arolwg Blynyddol o'r Boblogaeth
  • Welsh language data from the Annual Population Survey

Published by

• Organisation: Welsh Government
• Contact email: welshlanguagedata@gov.wales

Metadata

The metadata for this dataset is not included when you download the data. You can download this separately. This contains all the information from the 'About this dataset' tab.