This is a list of subdivisions of Wales by the percentage of those professing some skills in the Welsh language in the 2011 UK census. The census did not record Welsh-speakers living outside Wales.

The census determined that 18.56% of the population could speak Welsh and 14.57% could speak, read and write in the language.^[1] In the most recent census in 2021, 17.8% reported being able to speak Welsh.^[2]

Census breakdown

The Census produced a detailed breakdown of skills as:^[3]

• Understands spoken Welsh (no other skills)
• Speaks but does not read or write Welsh
• Speaks and reads but does not write Welsh
• Speaks, reads and writes Welsh
• Other combination of skills; e.g. Can read but not speak.
• No knowledge of Welsh.

Those with the ability to speak Welsh

The second table includes only those people who stated in the 2011 Census that they are able to speak the Welsh language. It was these statistics that were reported by the press when the first data samples were released in 2012.^[4]

Area Able to speak Welsh Unable to speak Welsh Population total % of those who can speak Welsh % of those unable to speak Welsh Blaenau Gwent 5,316 64,498 69,814 7.61% 92.39% Bridgend 13,223 125,955 139,178 9.50% 90.50% Caerphilly 19,448 159,358 178,806 10.88% 89.12% Cardiff 37,194 308,896 346,090 10.75% 89.25% Carmarthenshire 78,914 104,863 183,777 42.94% 57.06% Ceredigion 34,964 40,958 75,922 47.35% 52.65% Conwy 30,933 84,295 115,228 26.85% 73.15% Denbighshire 22,491 71,243 93,734 23.99% 76.01% Flintshire 19,463 133,043 152,506 12.76% 87.24% Gwynedd 78,412 43,462 121,874 64.34% 35.66% Isle of Anglesey 39,129 30,622 69,751 56.10% 43.90% Merthyr Tydfil 5,083 53,719 58,802 8.64% 91.36% Monmouthshire 8,831 82,492 91,323 9.67% 90.33% Neath Port Talbot 20,843 118,969 139,812 14.91% 85.09% Newport 13,124 132,612 145,736 9.01% 90.99% Pembrokeshire 23,016 99,423 122,439 18.80% 81.20% Powys 24,187 108,789 132,976 18.19% 81.81% Rhondda Cynon Taf 28,123 206,287 234,410 12.00% 88.00% Swansea 26,532 212,491 239,023 11.10% 88.90% The Vale of Glamorgan 13,325 113,011 126,336 10.55% 89.45% Torfaen 8,704 82,371 91,075 9.56% 90.44% Wrexham 16,805 118,039 134,844 12.46% 87.54% Totals 576,462 2,494,956 3,063,456 18.56%

Those with knowledge of the Welsh language

For the purpose of the first table, all combinations other than "no knowledge of Welsh" have been combined, giving a percentage of people that state they have some communication skills in the Welsh language rather than an ability to speak Welsh. The totals include children whose parents have filled in the Census details on this behalf.

Annual Population Survey estimates

In addition to official Census data, the Annual Population Survey publishes sample-based estimates on the number of self-proclaimed Welsh speakers several times a year based on estimates for the previous year. The third table displays uses this data to show estimates for the percentage of people who say they can speak Welsh at the time of each survey, from June 2016 onwards.^[5] The 2020 survey reported that 28.6% of people in Wales aged three and over were able to speak Welsh.^[6]