ONS has 'confidence' in data showing there are 262,000 trans people in England ... trends now
The UK's statistics body has expressed confidence in a finding that 262,000 people in England and Wales have a different gender identity to their sex registered at birth.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said there was 'no evidence' the design of a census question or the processing of data had an 'adverse effect' on the published figure.
This is despite their admission that some who responded to the 2021 census may not have understood a question on gender identity if English was not their first language.
A new ONS report, published today, revealed those who did not speak English were five times more likely to state they were transgender than those who had English as their main language.
But the report suggested that a higher level of people identifying as transgender among those born outside the UK could also be due to 'cultural factors'.
This included trans migrants specifically choosing to move to Britain because of stronger civil rights laws and a greater social acceptance than in other countries.
The 2021 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 census question was asked as a means of providing the first official data on the size of the transgender population in England and Wales
A voluntary question on gender identity was included in the census for the first time in 2021 and was answered by 45.7million people in England and Wales.
Those aged 16 and over were asked whether the gender they identified with was the same as their sex registered at birth.
Of those who answered the question, 45.4million (93.5 per cent of the population aged over 16) while 262,000 (0.5 per cent) answered 'no'.
Some 2.9million people (6 per cent) did not answer the question, while those who answered 'no' were asked to provide their gender identity.
This revealed 48,000
