Just over 2% of Northern Ireland's adult population now identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or other.
That's according to the latest Census 2021 figures, published on Tuesday, exactly two years to the day since the census was conducted.
The first Census to track sexual orientation was held on 21 March 2021, Northern Ireland's centenary year and found that 31,600 people aged 16 or over here identified as LGB+.
Read more: Northern Ireland Census 2021 results: Population more diverse than ever before
Some 1.364 million adults (90%) aged 16 and over identified as straight or heterosexual while 119,000 (8%) did not answer the question, or preferred not to say.
The number of adults who identified as LGB+ varied by area and age, from 4.1% in Belfast to 1.1% in Mid-Ulster and by age from 4.6% of people aged 16 to 24 to 0.3% of people aged 65 and over.
The figures also show that Northern Ireland has the lowest percentage of people in the UK who identify as LGB+ at 2.1% after England (3.2%) and Wales (3%).
The Scottish census was conducted separately a year later.
Historically, there has been limited official data or research about the number of people who identify as LGBTQIA+ in the UK, so the inclusion of census questions around sexual orientation for all residents aged 16+ is very significant.
The Rainbow Project has welcomed the release of NI census results around sexual orientation but has expressed its disappointment that it did not include questions on gender identity.
John O’Doherty, Director of the Rainbow Project said: “The LGBTQIA+ Community have always existed in Northern Ireland, but we have been a hidden population. This is partly due to repeated failures by government and public bodies to carry out their statutory duty to collect and record data on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Today’s release is a meaningful first step towards ensuring all LGBTQIA+ people are counted and visible within our society, but there remains much to be done. While this is an important first step towards ensuring all LGBTQIA+ people are counted, today's release should be viewed as a baseline – and not a full reflection of LGBTQIA+ populations in Northern Ireland.
“The 2021 census provided an opportunity to record and report on the numbers of LGBTQIA+ people across the UK. We are disappointed that changes were not made to allow for gender identity data to be gathered in the Northern Ireland census leaving a further gap in the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people.”
In terms of marital status, the latest information from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra) found there has been a fall in the percentage of adults who are married over the last six censuses, down from 61% in 1971 to 46% in 2021.
There was a rise in those who are single, up from 31% in 1971 to 38% in 2021.
Over the same time period, the percentage of adults who are separated, widowed or divorced has risen from 9% in 1971 to 16% in 2021. The number of divorced adults has also risen from 3,000 in 1971 to over 90,000 in 2021.
Meanwhile, of the 1.515 million adults in Northern Ireland, 849,000 (56%) were in employment, 42,000 (2.8%) were unemployed and 624,000 (41%) were economically inactive due to being retired, long-term sick or disabled.
Of the 849,000 adults in employment, 81% were employees, 15% were self-employed and 4% were full-time students who also had a job.
Derry City & Strabane had the highest percentage of adults who were unemployed (3.7%), while Fermanagh & Omagh, Mid Ulster and Lisburn & Castlereagh had the lowest at 2.2% each.
At 56.1%, Northern Ireland has proportionately more adults in employment than Wales (53.5%) but less than England (57.4%).
Around one in three said their highest level of qualification was a degree/NVQ 4 or above, while just under a quarter said they had no qualifications.
Looking at language, around 7% of the population aged three or over (127,000) said they could speak Irish, and of those, 70,000 said they spoke Irish at least once a week.
Some 3.3% (61,000 people) aged three and over said they could speak the Ulster-Scots language, and 41,000 of those said they spoke Ulster-Scots at least once a week.
In terms of population make-up, 13.5% (257,000) were born outside Northern Ireland, with 105,000 having come to live here in the last 10 years, and 66,000 arriving between 2001 and 2010.
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