The next set of key results from the 2021 census covers identity.
That includes national identity, ethnicity and – for the first time – official statistics on sexual orientation.
A reminder of the ground rules:
- The figures will be counted at council level (the 22 unitary authorities). There are probably more interesting results at a local level/ward level, but that’s not for me to do. You can look these up yourselves using the ONS’s interactive map.
- Percentages are rounded to the nearest decimal place and changes are percentage point increases or decreases (unless stated otherwise).
- 2021 will be compared to both the 2011 and 2001 censuses unless comparable figures are unavailable (i.e. things were counted differently in 2021 compared to previous years) or I couldn’t find the data for whatever reason. In some instances, there won’t be a comparison because it’s a new category.
- Any conclusions are educated guesses rather than hard/academically rigorous conclusions.
What’s the overall national picture?
There was no point counting the proportion of usual residents in Wales who are white as in most cases it’s above 95%.
The proportion of people of colour resident in Wales has remained stable since 2011, accounting for 4.2% of the population (+0.8%), which works out to around 131,000 people.
Welsh & British Asians of South Asian (mainly Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) descent make up the largest minority ethnic group in Wales.
In total, a little over half of Welsh people of colour (74,000) are categorised as being from one of the Asian ethnic groups (which includes Chinese and “Other Asian” subcategories). There are around 35,000 Welsh people of mixed descent and 7,700 people who are of black African and Caribbean descent.
What are the standout findings for individual councils?
Cardiff (13.2%) and Newport (9.6%) have by far and away the largest proportions of people of colour resident anywhere in Wales. About half of Wales’ people of colour live in the two combined – with Swansea (5.2%) coming a distant third.
To put this in perspective, Cardiff has more black residents (3,300) in isolation than there are people of colour living in twelve other Welsh local authorities. This is despite the capital seeing its proportion of resident people of colour fall the fastest over the last 10 years (-2.2%).
Other than that, there are very few standout figures, with populations remaining stable or with changes of +/- 1% or less.
What may be the reasons behind the changes (if applicable)?
Well, there haven’t been many changes – though the decline of people of colour living in Cardiff could be explained by the increase in surrounding local authorities. People could be being priced out of the city through gentrification in districts like Grangetown and Canton that have always been multicultural.
It’s understandable why people in minority groups will want to live close to and surrounded by people similar to themselves as it’s strength in numbers. The M4 corridor is becoming gradually more multicultural – though to nowhere near the same extent as the major English cities.
Are there any public policy implications?
If you live outside the three southern cities you’re statistically less likely to encounter anyone who isn’t white in daily life. It may seem counterintuitive, but racism and anti-immigration sentiment often seem to find root in places where there are few people of colour or immigrants.
It also means that issues in housing (which I’ll come back to in another part), healthcare and urban poverty – particularly in and around Cardiff – may disproportionately affect people from backgrounds other than white and not just for class reasons.
It underlines the importance of proper representation in public life – particularly in areas with high numbers of Welsh people of colour – that avoids tokenism.
