One in 10 young adults in UK identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual – ONS
One in 10 young adults in UK identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual – ONS
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Stonewall CEO says data should be ‘wake-up call’ to organisations rolling back on LGBTQ+ rights. Around one in 10 young adults in the UK identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, a proportion of the population which has doubled in the past five years, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics.
Just over 10% of 16 to 24-year-olds identified as LGB in 2023 – the most recent window polled – up from 4.4% in 2018, according to data from the Annual Population Survey. The largest rise came among young women, with 9.2% of women aged 16-24 identifying as bisexual, compared with 5.9% of males.
Simon Blake, the chief executive of LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall said the data should be “a wake-up call to organisations and governments who are rolling back on their commitments to LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion”. “Lesbian, gay and bisexual people are a growing part of UK society, with more LGB young people than ever before,” he said. “The more than one in 10 of 16-24 year-olds identifying as LGB will be a crucial part of our workplaces, politics and lives. They will have colleagues, friends and families who support them, and they will deserve – and demand – equal rights and opportunities.”.
Across the population as a whole an estimated 2.1 million people (3.8%) identified as LGB in 2023, up from 1.2m (2.2%) in 2018; 93.6% of the UK population identified as heterosexual, down from 94.6% in 2018. The data suggests that the proportion of UK adults identifying as LGB varies sharply in different age groups: while one in 10 under-25s say they are LGB, the figure is closer to one in 100 for the over 65s. The data shows that 6.3% of 25-34 year-olds identify as LGB, compared to 2.9% of 35-49 year-olds and 2.4% of 50-64 year-olds.
