This bulletin looks at the UK armed forces veterans topic summary data from the 2021 Census for England and Wales that was published on 10 November 2022 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It provides unrounded population and household estimates at North Wales and unitary authority level.
Census 2021 in Wales and England was the first to ask people if they had previously served in the UK armed forces. People aged 16 years or older were asked whether they had previously served in the regular or reserve UK armed forces, or both. People currently serving in the UK armed forces and those who had never served were both advised to tick “no”.
The key results for North Wales
- In 2021, 29,194 people in North Wales reported that they had previously served in the UK armed forces. This is around 5.1% of usual residents aged 16 years or older.
- The percentage of UK armed forces veterans was higher than it was in Wales (4.5%) or in England (3.8%).
- Of the UK armed forces veteran population in North Wales, 78.1% (22,802 people) previously served in the regular forces, 17.6% (5,152 people) previously served in the reserve forces, and 4.2% (1,240 people) served in both the regular and reserve forces.
- 613 UK armed forces veterans (2.1%) lived in communal establishments and the remainder (28,581, 97.9%) lived in households. Veterans are very slightly more likely to live in communal establishments than the population in general.
- The percentage of households with one or more persons who had served in the UK armed forces was 9.1% (27,424 households). This was higher than it was in Wales (8.1%) or in England (7.0%).
- Across Wales, the local authorities with the highest proportion of veterans include Conwy County Borough (5.9%, 5,649 people), and the Isle of Anglesey (5.6%, 3,221 people).
See also
- 2021 Census: first results
- 2021 Census: demography & migration
- 2021 Census: ethnic group
- 2021 Census: religion
- 2021 Census: main language
- 2021 Census: education
- 2021 Census: sexual orientation and gender identity
The ONS has also published UK armed forces veterans, England and Wales: Census 2021.
Contact us
North Wales Regional Innovation Coordination Hub
Email: nwrich@denbighshire.gov.uk
Phone: 01824 712432
