a.^ Statistics indicate respondents who can speak at least "well". b.^ Statistics indicate respondents with at least basic ability. c.^ Statistics undertaken with assumptions and large disparities between home countries.
Welsh is an official language, under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, in Wales.[16][17] Additionally, Welsh is the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom. Welsh is spoken by 538,300 people in Wales according to the 2021 census,[18] though data from the Annual Population Survey shows that 28%, or roughly 862,700 people, of Wales' population aged three and over were able to speak the language in March 2024.[19] Additionally, 32.5% (1,001,500) reported that they could understand spoken Welsh, 24.7% (759,200) could read and 22.2% (684,500) could write in Welsh.[19]
Approximately 124,000 people speak Irish in Northern Ireland, which is an official language in Northern Ireland alongside English.[20]
^According to the 2011 census, 53,098,301 people in England and Wales, 5,044,683 people in Scotland, and 1,681,210 people in Northern Ireland can speak English "well" or "very well"; totalling 59,824,194. Therefore, out of the 60,815,385 residents of the UK over the age of three, 98% claim they can speak English "well" or "very well".
^"United Kingdom". Languages Across Europe. BBC. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
^Scotland's Census 2011 – Language, All people aged 3 and over. Out of the 60,815,385 residents of the UK over the age of three, 1,541,693 (2.5%) can speak Scots, linkArchived 22 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
^[1]Archived 15 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Annual Population Survey - Ability to speak Welsh by local authority and year. Out of the 3,021,300 residents of Wales over the age of three, 874,600 (29%) can speak Welsh. Retrieved 02 February 2020.
^Mac Síthigh, Daithí (March 2018). "Official status of languages in the United Kingdom and Ireland". Common Law World Review. 47 (1): 77–102. doi:10.1177/1473779518773642.