Languages of Wales

The languages of Wales include the Welsh language, which is an official language of Wales, and English, which is also considered an official language in Wales. The official languages of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) are also Welsh and English. According to the 2021 census, the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 17.8% (538,300 people) and nearly three quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills.

Welsh is an official language of Wales, and is treated "no less favourably than the English language" which is also considered an official language, as legislated in the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011. The official languages of the Senedd are Welsh and English.

The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 recognises that Welsh is an official language in Wales and established a legal framework for a statutory duty on public bodies in Wales to comply with Welsh language standards. The legislation allows people to live through the medium of Welsh if they so wish. The legislation states "the Welsh language must not be treated less favourably than the English language". The 2011 measure also created the Welsh Language Commissioner post.

In Wales, as of 2021, 96.7% of usual residents (2.9 million) aged three and above spoke Welsh or English as their main language. This is compared to 97.1% in 2011.

Of the 101,000 people in Wales who did not speak Welsh or English as a main language in 2021, 78.0% said they could speak English well or very well, similar to 77.1% in 2011. 22.0% of people who did not speak English or Welsh as a main language could not speak English very well or at all.

In both 2011 and 2021, Polish was the most spoken main language after Welsh and English, accounting for 0.7% of the population (21,000), up from 0.6% in 2011. Arabic was the next most common main language in Wales at 0.3%, up from 0.2% in 2011.

British Sign Language (BSL) was the preferred language of 900 (0.03%), up from 800 in 2011. An additional 300 usual residents used another form of sign language or communication system other than BSL.

Welsh is a Celtic language primarily spoken in Wales. It is the traditional language of Wales but was supplanted in large part by English, becoming a minority language in the early 20th century. For the year ending 30 June 2022, the Welsh Annual Population Survey showed that 29.7% (899,500) people aged three or older were able to speak Welsh. According to the 2021 census, 17.8% (538,300 people) of Wales' population, aged 3 or older, can speak Welsh, a decrease from 19% in 2011.