Number of Welsh speakers in Wales falls for the second year

Stephen Price

The number of Welsh speakers living in Wales has fallen over the last two years, with Cardiff home to the highest number of speakers according to the latest annual population survey.

In 2025, there were 844,300 Welsh speakers living in Wales, according to the statistics published on Wednesday 22 April – a decrease from 896,300 in the year ending 31 December 2023.

In more positive news, however, the numbers still reflect an overall increase since March 2010, where the survey recorded 731,000 Welsh speakers in Wales.

According to the annual survey published on Wednesday, 27.3% of people aged three and over could speak Welsh, which equates to approximately 844,300 people.

The figure for the year ending 31 December 2023 was 896,300, or 29.2%.

The Welsh Government’s description of figure 1 reads: “The line chart shows that the number of Welsh speakers has declined in general 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 844,300 Welsh speakers living in Wales in the year ending 31 December 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.”

The Welsh Government points out, however, that “Users should consider trends presented in this release alongside other data on Welsh speakers, such as from the National Survey for Wales.

The Welsh Government considers the census of population to be the key source of information to measure the number of Welsh speakers in Wales.

They also state: “These estimates were previously classed as accredited official statistics. The Annual Population Survey (APS) has seen a fall in sample sizes over recent years. Given this, and the fact that the survey has not been reweighted to latest population estimates, the Office for Statistics Regulation has agreed that this accreditation should be temporarily suspended and that the estimates should be re-designated as official statistics (Office for Statistics Regulation).”

Cardiff on the up

In the data for January to December 2025, the highest estimated numbers of Welsh speakers are found in Cardiff (96,800), Gwynedd (91,300) and Carmarthenshire (88,100).

The lowest estimated numbers of Welsh speakers are in Blaenau Gwent (8,200) and Merthyr Tydfil (10,200).

The highest estimated percentages of Welsh speakers can be found in Gwynedd (74.7%) and the Isle of Anglesey (63.5%).

The lowest estimated percentages of Welsh speakers are in Blaenau Gwent (12.1%) and Bridgend (15.5%)

Children and young people aged 3 to 15 years were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh (48.8%, 237,900) 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.

14.5% (448,800) of people aged three years or older reported that they spoke Welsh daily, 4.9% (151,200) weekly and 6.5% (200,400) less often. Around 1.4% (43,500) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak it, with the remaining 72.7% not able to speak Welsh.

31.5% (973,500) reported that they could understand spoken Welsh, 24.9% (769,300) could read and 22.3% (687,500) could write in Welsh.

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