New data shows 3.1% of people aged 16+ identify as lesbian, gay or bi
The release provides ‘experimental statistics’ on sexual orientation in the UK in 2020 by region, sex, age, marital or legal partnership status, ethnic group and socio-economic classification, using data from the Annual Population Survey
New data released by the Office for National Statistics has shown that 3.1% of the UK population aged 16 years and over identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) in 2020, an increase from 2.7% in 2019 and almost double the percentage from 2014 (1.6%).
The release provides ‘experimental statistics’ on sexual orientation in the UK in 2020 by region, sex, age, marital or legal partnership status, ethnic group and socio-economic classification, using data from the Annual Population Survey (APS), which collects information on sexual identity from the household population aged 16 years and over in the UK.
Main points:
- The proportion of the UK population aged 16 years and over identifying as heterosexual or straight was 93.6% in 2020. There has been a decreasing trend since the series began in 2014.
- An estimated 3.1% of the UK population aged 16 years and over identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) in 2020, an increase from 2.7% in 2019 and almost double the percentage from 2014 (1.6%).
- The proportion of men in the UK identifying as LGB increased from 1.9% to 3.4% between 2014 and 2020. The proportion of women identifying as LGB has risen from 1.4% to 2.8% over the same period.
- People aged 16 to 24 years continue to be the most likely to identify as LGB in 2020 (8.0%) reflecting an increasing trend for this age group since 2014. This breaks down to 2.7% identifying as gay or lesbian, and 5.3% identifying as bisexual.
- In 2020, women (1.6%) were more likely than men (0.9%) to identify as bisexual but were less likely to identify as gay or lesbian (1.1% compared with 2.5%). These differences between men and women are more pronounced in the younger age groups.
- Among those identifying as LGB in 2020, almost three-quarters (72.5%) had never been married or in a civil partnership, while just under one-quarter were married or in a civil partnership (23.7%). This may reflect the younger age structure of the LGB population and that the legislation for same-sex civil partnerships and same-sex marriage is relatively recent.
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