Annual Population Survey shows fall in number of Welsh speakers living in Wales

Stephen Price

The number of Welsh speakers in Wales has declined over the past two years, according to the latest Welsh language data from the Annual Population Survey.

Published on Wednesday 21 January 2026, the latest survey on people’s ability in Welsh and how often they speak the language covers the period from October 2024 to September 2025.

A line chart produced to highlight the findings of the survey shows that, having fallen between 2001 and 2007, there has since been a general increase in the estimated number of Welsh speakers recorded by the APS save for a slight dip in and around 2018/2019, before the numbers steadied themselves again up to 2023.

In the period since however, the last two years have seen a continued fall. According to the APS, there were an estimated 828,500 Welsh speakers living in Wales in the year ending 30 September 2025.

A line chart highlighting the data shows that the number of Welsh speakers has declined over the past two years. Despite the recent fall, the overall trend since March 2010 has been one of growth (25.2%, 731,000), following a gradual decline between 2001 and 2007.

According to the APS, there were an estimated 828,500 Welsh speakers living in Wales in the year ending 30 September 2025. The number of Welsh speakers recorded in the 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census are plotted on the same chart, labelled 582,400, 562,000 and 538,300 respectively.

Face-to-face interviews were suspended in mid-March 2020 in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and all interviews were conducted over the phone. Face-to-face interviews were reintroduced in autumn 2023 meaning that the latest data are based on a combination of phone and face-to-face interviews.

For the year ending 30 September 2025, the Annual Population Survey estimated that 26.9% of people aged three years or older were able to speak Welsh. This figure equates to around 828,500 people.

Children and young people aged 3 to 15 years were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh (46.5%, 227,300) than any other age group. This is consistent over time, but the percentage of children and young people aged 3 to 15 years who can speak Welsh has been decreasing in general since the beginning of 2019.

It should be noted, however, that the Office for Statistics Regulation has agreed that the accreditation of the statistics from this survey should be temporarily removed because of a fall in sample size over time, and therefore there is more uncertainty about the data.

The results should also not be compared with census results, nor used to measure progress towards the Welsh Government target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050. The Welsh language strategy, Cymraeg 2050, clearly states that this target was based on census data and that progress towards this target will be monitored using census of population data.

Key findings

The highest estimated numbers of Welsh speakers are found in Gwynedd (89,400), Cardiff (88,000) and Carmarthenshire (85,100).

The lowest estimated numbers of Welsh speakers are in Blaenau Gwent (7,100) and Merthyr Tydfil (9,100).

The highest estimated percentages of Welsh speakers can be found in Gwynedd (73.4%) and the Isle of Anglesey (61.8%).

The lowest estimated percentages of Welsh speakers are in Blaenau Gwent (10.6%) and Merthyr Tydfil (15.0%)

14.0% (431,700) of people aged three years or older reported that they spoke Welsh daily, 4.9% (152,100) weekly and 6.6% (204,000) less often. Around 1.3% (40,400) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak it, with the remaining 73.1% not able to speak Welsh.

31.2% (961,700) reported that they could understand spoken Welsh, 24.2% (746,100) could read and 21.6% (666,000) could write in Welsh.

Welsh Government response

The Welsh Government consider these data alongside other data sources about Welsh speakers, such as the National Survey for Wales and the school census.

The Welsh Government says: “We’re working on a wide range of actions to achieve our aim of a million Welsh speakers by 2050, and to increase opportunities for people to use their Cymraeg.

“This includes introducing the Welsh Language and Education Act, our response to the report of the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities, the second phase of the Commission which is looking at the Welsh language in areas with fewer Welsh speakers, free Welsh lessons for 16-25 year olds, and increasing the amount of Welsh language technology that’s available.”

.