English/Welsh native speakers in the United Kingdom statistics

This statistic shows the percentage of the population of the United Kingdom that that had English as their main language in 2011. There was a lower percentage of non-English/Welsh speakers in Wales than in any of the other countries, and England had the highest percentage of non-English speakers.

Proportion of the population of the United Kingdom whose main language was English in 2011, by country*

Characteristic	English	Other
England	92%	8%
Wales	97.1%	2.9%
Northern Ireland	96.9%	3.1%
Scotland**	92.6%	7.4%

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Release date

March 2013

More information

Region

United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)

Survey time period

March 27, 2011

Number of respondents

61,067,717 respondents

Age group

3 years and older

Method of interview

Postal questionnaire

Supplementary notes

*English or Welsh in Wales.
The data originates from the 2011 National Census.
Data for Scotland and Northern Ireland sourced seperately:
Scotland, page 28
Northern Ireland, page 43
**For Scotland the question was phrased as the language spoken in the home, rather than the main language of the respondent.
Critics of the 2011 Scottish census argue that by including the option of "Scots" as the language spoken in the home, the figures may not be accurate due to a different interpretation of what "Scots" was.

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