Census reveals 262,000 people in England and Wales have a different gender identity to their sex registered at birth – with London having the highest percentage of trans men and trans women and Brighton the highest percentage of non-binary

There are 262,000 people in England and Wales who have a different gender identity to their sex registered at birth, the census suggests.

The voluntary question, included in the 2021 census for the first time and asked of those aged 16 and over, was answered by 45.7million people.

Of those, 45.4million (93.5 per cent of the population aged over 16) answered ‘yes’ when asked ‘is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?’

And, according to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics, 0.5 per cent of respondents answered ‘no’.

Some 2.9million people (6 per cent) did not answer the question.

The census data also revealed how gender identity varied across England and Wales, with London having higher percentages of individuals who identified as a trans man or a trans woman.

Brighton and Hove was the local authority with the highest percentage of people who identified as non-binary – meaning they don’t identify as exclusively male or female.

The census data revealed how gender identity varied across England and Wales, with London having higher percentages of people who identified as a trans man or a trans woman

Some 30,000 (0.06 per cent) identified as non-binary, while 18,000 (0.04 per cent) wrote in a different gender identity

In England, the region with the highest percentage who reported a different gender identity to their sex at birth was London (0.91 per cent)

The question was asked as a means of providing the first official data on the size of the transgender population in England and Wales.

Those who answered ‘no’ were asked to provide their gender identity.

This revealed 48,000 people (0.1 per cent of the population aged 16 and over) across England and Wales identified as a trans man and 48,000 (0.1 per cent) identified as a trans woman.

Another 30,000 (0.06 per cent) identified as non-binary, while 18,000 (0.04 per cent) said they were of a different gender identity.

A further 118,000 (0.24 per cent) answered ‘no’ but did not provide a written response.

When comparing the two nations, the percentage of the population aged 16 and over who reported that their gender identity was different from their sex at birth was slightly higher in England (0.55 per cent) than it was in Wales (0.40 per cent).

In England, the region with the highest percentage who reported a different gender identity to their sex at birth was London (0.91 per cent).

The South West had the lowest, at 0.42 per cent.

Compared to overall figures, London had higher percentages of people who identified as a trans man (0.16 per cent), a trans woman (0.16 per cent), and who answered ‘no’ but did not provide a write-in response (0.46 per cent).

Eight of the top ten local authorities with the largest population whose gender identity was different from their birth at sex were in London.

Newham (1.51 per cent) and Brent (1.31 per cent) topped the list, while Oxford was third (1.25 per cent) and Norwich was ninth (1.07 per cent).

But the five local authorities with the highest proportion who identified as non-binary were all outside London.

Brighton and Hove had the highest percentage (0.35 per cent), followed by Norwich (0.33 per cent) and Cambridge (0.26 per cent).

In fifth place was Ceredigion (0.23 per cent), which had the highest percentage who identified as non-binary of any local authority in Wales.

Cardiff had the highest percentage who classed themselves as a trans man (0.12 per cent) of any local authority in Wales and also had the highest percentage who said they were a trans woman (0.13 per cent).

By GREG HEFFER