The number of Welsh speakers in Wales has fallen by 24,000 over the last decade, according to the 2021 census. Data published on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that in 2021 an estimated 538,000 usual residents, or 17.8% of people in Wales aged three years and over, reported being able to speak Welsh.
This was a decrease from 562,000 usual resident or 19.0% of the population that could speak, read, and write in the language in 2011. According to the ONS one of the main factors contributing to the overall decrease in the percentage of people who reported being able to speak Welsh between 2011 and 2021 was the decrease in children and young people aged three to 15 years who reported this skill.
The percentage of usual residents aged three years and over able to speak Welsh decreased between 2011 and 2021 in all local authorities except in Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Merthyr Tydfil. Among children and young people aged three to 15 years the percentage who could speak Welsh decreased in all local authorities between 2011 and 2021.
