Scotland’s Census 2022 - Sexual orientation and trans status or history

An Accredited Official Statistics publication for Scotland

Published: 27 June 2024

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This report presents census data on LGBTQ+ people for the first time.  

This data was collected through two new questions. One on trans status or history. And one on sexual orientation. 

Census data will help government, charities and other service providers to understand more about the needs of LGBTQ+ people.

Trans status or history

Question background

Scotland’s Census included a new question on trans status or history in 2022. This means we do not have comparable data for previous censuses.

The question was “Do you consider yourself to be trans, or have a trans history?”. People were asked to tick “No” or “Yes”. People who ticked “Yes” were asked to describe their trans status (for example, non-binary, trans man, trans woman).

Transgender or trans is a term used to describe people whose gender is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth.

This was a voluntary question for people aged 16 and over. In 2022 5.92% of people did not answer the trans status question. The percentage of people who were trans or have a trans history is calculated using the overall population (aged 16 and over), not just those who answered the question.

In this report we refer to people who consider themselves to be trans, or have a trans history as trans people.

Key points

The census found that there were 19,970 trans people in Scotland. This is 0.44% of people aged 16 and over.

Figure 1 shows how trans people responded across five high level categories.

Almost half (45.2%) of trans people identify as ‘non-binary’. This is 9,030 people in total.

One in six trans people identified as trans men (3,310). A similar number of people identified as trans but did not provide any further detail (3,110). A similar number of people identified as trans women (3,090).

The ‘other trans status or history’ category (1,430 people) includes a number of different groups of people. The most common responses in this category were ‘genderfluid’, ‘agender’ and ‘genderqueer’. Those three different groups account for around two thirds of people in this category.

The census in England and Wales asked a question on gender identity in 2021. Further information on the data from the two different questions is available in our quality assurance report.

Figure 2 shows how the number of trans people varied across age groups. There were more trans people in younger age groups than in older groups.

Almost half (46.1%) of trans people were aged 16 to 24. Around a quarter (26.1%) were aged 25 to 34.

For comparison, 12.8% of all people aged 16 and over were aged 16 to 24. And 15.3% were aged 25 to 34.

We can also look at the number of trans people as a percentage of the population in each age group. The percentage of trans people decreases as we go from younger to older age groups.

On average around 14 in every 1,000 people aged 16 to 29 were trans (1.36%). In the 30 to 39 age group 4 in every 1,000 people were trans (0.42%). And in the 40+ age group around 1 in every 1,000 people was trans (0.15%).

The four ‘City’ council areas have the highest percentage of trans people relative to their population (aged 16 and over). Dundee City had the highest percentage (0.91%), followed by City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City (both 0.77%), and Aberdeen City (0.58%).  

We know that the percentage of trans people is higher in younger age groups. The spread across council areas reflects this. The four ‘City’ council areas have large student populations and relatively high numbers of young people.

Sexual orientation

Question background

Scotland’s Census included a new question on sexual orientation in 2022. This means that we do not have comparable data for previous censuses.

The question was “Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?”. People were asked to tick “Straight / Heterosexual”, “Gay or Lesbian”, “Bisexual” or “Other sexual orientation”. People who ticked “Other sexual orientation” were asked to describe their sexual orientation.

Sexual orientation is an umbrella term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. The term sexual orientation may mean different things to different people.

This was a voluntary question for people aged 16 and over. In 2022 8.2% of people did not answer the sexual orientation question. The percentages used in this report are calculated using the overall population (aged 16 and over), not just those who answered the sexual orientation question.

In this report we use the term LGB+ people to refer to people who described their sexual orientation as “Gay or Lesbian”, “Bisexual” or “Other sexual orientation”.

Key points

Scotland’s Census found that 3,993,860 people identified as straight or heterosexual. This is 87.8% of people aged 16 and over.

There were 183,860 LGB+ people in Scotland. This is 4.0% of people aged 16 and over.

The censuses in the rest of the UK asked the same question in 2021. In England and Wales 3.2% of people aged 16 and over were LGB+. In Northern Ireland 2.1% of people aged 16 and over were LGB+.

Around 2 in every 5 LGB+ people identified as bisexual (43.6%). This is 80,260 people. A similar number of people (80,100) identified as gay or lesbian (43.6%).

The ‘other sexual orientation’ category (23,500 people) includes a number of different groups of people. Over a third (35.6%) of people in this category did not specify their sexual orientation. The most common responses in this category were ‘pansexual’, ‘asexual’ and ‘queer’. Those three different groups account for over half (57.1%) of people in this category.

Figure 6 shows how the number of LGB+ people varies across age groups. There are more LGB+ people in younger age groups than in older groups.

Almost half (46.6%) of bisexual people were aged 16 to 24. Around a third (32.0%) were aged 25 to 34.

Around a quarter (23.1%) of gay or lesbian people were aged 16 to 24. A further 28.6% were aged 25 to 34. This means just under half were aged 35 and older.

For comparison, 12.8% of all people aged 16 and over were aged 16 to 24. And 15.3% were aged 25 to 34.

We can also look at the number of LGB+ people as a percentage of the population in each age group. The percentage of LGB+ people decreases as we go from younger to older age groups. 

On average around 10 in every 100 people aged 16 to 29 were LGB+ (10.5%). In the 30 to 39 age group 6 in every 100 people were LGB+ (5.8%). And in the 40+ age group around 2 in every 100 people were LGB+ (1.6%). 

Figure 8 below shows more females were LGB+ than males. This is explained by the higher number of females identifying as bisexual.

More males (46,290) than females (33,820) identified as gay or lesbian. While the number of females (58,260) identifying as bisexual was more than double the number of males (21,990). There were also more females (15,260) than males (8,240) in the ‘Other sexual orientation’ category.

Figure 9 shows that more females than males identified as LGB+ in younger age groups. But this changes for ages 50 and over where more males identified as LGB+.

The four ‘City’ council areas have the highest percentage of LGB+ people relative to their population (aged 16 and over). City of Edinburgh had the highest percentage (7.6%), followed by Glasgow City (7.1%), Dundee City (6.6%) and Aberdeen City (5.2%).   

We know that the percentage of LGB+ people is higher in younger age groups. The spread across council areas reflects this. The four ‘City’ council areas have large student populations and relatively high numbers of young people. 

Updates to this report

In December 2024 we published data for the categories used in our trans status or history coding framework. When preparing this data it was apparent that people who wrote in ‘intersex’ had been coded into the ‘Other trans status or history’ category. This affected a small number of records (less than 20).

We have made a change to be consistent with stakeholder feedback before the census. We were told that people who identify as ‘intersex’ or with 'differences of sex development' or ‘variations in sex characteristics’ should not be counted as trans people by default. We have reclassified all responses in the ‘intersex’ group into the ‘No - not trans and does not have trans history’ category.

This report has been updated to reflect this change. Our data tables and quality assurance report have also been updated.

Data related to this release

Search for Scotland’s Census 2022 data tables in the census data section.

Geography boundaries and lookups for use with census data are available on the NRS website. 

Privacy protection

All data tables have privacy protection applied to keep the data of individuals safe. Cells might not sum to sub totals and totals due to these Statistical Disclosure Controls (SDC). More information about SDC is available via the slides from our May 2024 webinars.

Working with census statistics

Census statistics represent the total population rather than just those who completed the questionnaire. Since the 2001 censuses, statistical modelling has been used across the United Kingdom to produce total population estimates from census responses.

As with all estimates, there is a level of uncertainty. Users should consider uncertainty when working with census estimates and interpreting small changes.

More information on quality

The quality of census data is important. We made innovative changes to our approach to account for the census response rate (89.8%) and ensure census statistics represent the total population rather than just those who completed the questionnaire.

We published a blog on the quality of small area statistics and why you can be confident using census data.

Quality assurance

We have published quality information for the variables included in this release alongside this report.

Scotland’s Census included a new question on trans status or history in 2022. The census in England and Wales included a new question on gender identity in 2021. Further information on the data from the two different questions is available in our quality assurance report.

The quality assurance report for this topic also includes further information on data from the sex question and the trans status or history question asked in Scotland's Census.   

In 2023 we published a report on our approach to statistical quality assurance alongside the first release of data from Scotland’s Census 2022. We have carried out extensive quality assurance work to produce high quality census estimates.

Rounding

This report uses rounded estimates. Figures may not add exactly to totals because of the rounding. Unrounded census data is used to calculate percentages.

An Accredited Official Statistics publication for Scotland

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2023. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Future census publications

We will publish outputs from Scotland's Census 2022 in phases. This reflects the additional work required to produce more detailed census statistics.

Topic summaries

This report is the third in a series of topic summaries. The remaining summaries are:

• Demography and migration (August)
• Housing (August)
• Education, Labour market and travel to work (September)
• Health, disability and unpaid care (September)

The topic order above is provisional and release dates will be confirmed on our census outputs release schedule page. 

Topic data will be published down to output area where possible. Output areas are made up of approximately 50 households. We will also produce breakdowns of these topics by age and sex where appropriate.

Multivariate/Build your own tables

After the remaining topic releases we will publish multivariate data. This means we will publish tables which include more than one census topic variable. For example, ethnic group by country of birth.

Our Flexible Table Builder will allow users to create their own census tables. Users will be able to combine the different census variables they are interested in.

Glossary

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. 

Council Area

There are 32 council areas in Scotland. Councils provide public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning.

Sex

This is the sex recorded by the person completing the census. The options were "Female" and "Male".

We provided guidance on how to answer the sex question.

Sexual orientation

An umbrella term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. The term sexual orientation may mean different things to different people.

LGBTQ+

An abbreviation used to describe a community of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and/or other terms under the LGBTQ+ umbrella.

Lesbian

A woman who is physically, romantically, and/or emotionally attracted to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay or as gay women. Some non-binary people may also identify with this term.

Gay

A term to describe someone who is physically, romantically, and/or emotionally attracted to people of the same gender. Whilst often characterised as same gender male attraction, it is often a generic term for lesbian and gay sexuality - some women define themselves as gay rather than lesbian. Some non-binary people may also identify with this term.

Bisexual

An umbrella term used to describe someone who is physically, romantically, and/or emotionally attracted towards more than one gender.

Trans

Transgender or trans is a term used to describe people whose gender is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. The shortened adjective ‘trans’ is used for a range of identities, including trans men, trans women and non-binary people.

Queer or questioning

The term ‘queer’ is used by some people whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual or straight. The term ‘questioning’ describes someone who is questioning or exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity.

 +

Some cohorts in the wider community do not consider themselves to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender. This can include asexual, pansexual, or polysexual sexual orientations; or non-binary, genderqueer, or agender gender identities.

LGB+

In this report we use the term LGB+ people to refer to people who described their sexual orientation as “Gay or Lesbian”, “Bisexual” or “Other sexual orientation”.

Non-Binary

A term for people who have a gender identity that is not exclusively male or exclusively female. Other terms to describe non-binary genders are genderqueer, gender-fluid, or agender among many others. Non-binary people may express their gender in a variety of ways, including matching the sex assigned to them at birth, or completely different from it.

UK censuses 

The Office for National Statistics is responsible for the census in England and Wales. Data and supporting information is available on the ONS website.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency is responsible for the census in Northern Ireland. Data and supporting information is available on the NISRA website.

Contact us

Please get in touch if you need any further information, or have any suggestions for improvement.

E-mail: [email protected]
NRS customer services telephone: 0131 202 0451

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