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  Information sheets

Frequently Asked Questions

Languages spoken in the UK population

Introduction

There is no official source giving a detailed breakdown of how many people in the UK have English as a second language or the ranking of community languages spoken in the UK.

    • In 2001, the Department for Education and Skills (then DfEE) commissioned a report looking at the needs of people whose first language is not English focusing on barriers to employment, education and training. They reported there are no reliable data on the number of people living in Great Britain whose first language is not English. This causes serious problems with the planning and delivery of education and training provision... At least three million people living in the United Kingdom were born in countries where English is not the national language. Source: Research Brief RBX3/01
    • The lack of language data was also highlighted more recently in the context of health service users, Language ability: A neglected dimension in the profiling of populations and health service users, Health Education Journal, Vol. 66, No. 1, 90-106 (2007), Peter J Aspinall, Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent.

We are interested to discover more about demand for this information. Please let us know your reasons for understanding which languages are spoken in the UK population by emailing statistics@cilt.org.uk. This will help us to build up a case for ensuring future language questions in population surveys.

Outlined below are some of the sources we have identified as trying to capture indications of the linguistic diversity of the population.


Good news! A question on languages spoken to be included in the Population Census 2011

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) held a consultation in summer 2005 to look at the content of the Census in 2011. Languages featured strongly in the consultation and the report stated there was a clear user requirement for information on language, for service provision and resource allocation purposes.

However, ONS stressed that further work was required before a final decision could be made whether to include a language question in the 2011 Census. Their concerns on language collection included space restrictions as well as respondent burden, operational concerns and public acceptabilty.

A further consultation took place in early 2007 to identify particular user needs for ethnicity, national identity, language and religion information. The majority of respondents expressed a need for language information from the 2011 Census, particularly within local and regional government.

The ONS have now recognised the demand for information on the linguistic diversity of the UK. In April 2008 they announced that a language question will be included following confirmation that an extended 4 page person questionnaire will be funded for the Census in 2011. Developments are now underway and the ONS are currently piloting different question formats for a language question.

Follow the link below for further and general census infomation.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census/default.asp


 

Census Translations

Unfortunately, languages spoken was not asked in the 2001 population census. However, the census team needed to decide which languages the census forms and information leaflets needed to be translated into. Consultations were carried out with Local Authorities throughout England and Wales to ascertain the language assistance required in their areas, and advice from ethnicity and language-need experts was sought. As a consequence, Census information leaflets and questions were translated into the following 24 languages:

1. Albanian /Kosovan
2. Arabic*
3. Bengali*
4. Chinese (*Cantonese)
5. Croatian
6. Farsi /Persian
7. French
8. German
9. Greek*
10. Gujerati*
11. Hindi*
12. Italian*
13. Japanese
14. Polish
15. Portuguese
16. Punjabi*
17. Russian
18. Serbian
19. Somali*
20. Spanish
21. Swahili
22. Turkish*
23. Urdu*
24. Vietnamese*

* A dedicated language line with bilingual operators was set up for the languages starred above.

Source website: Census, 2001

 

Census maps of ethnic minority communities in the UK

Various interactive maps highlighting the location and spread of ethnic groups across the UK have been produced from the census 2001 results.

Access the Guardian map of ethnic minority communities in the UK...

Access the BBC immigration map of Britain with regional data...

A downloadable map and key is available from the Guardian for the London boroughs from the links below:

Guardian map of London - ethnic minority communities... (pdf document)

Guardian map of London - ethnicity key to the map... (rtf document)

 


Central Office of Information (COI) review

In 2003, the COI Strategic Consultancy Inclusivity team were commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to undertake a review of the ethnic minority languages used by the department. The objectives were to understand the communication needs of each community and make recommendations into which languages DWP information should be translated. The priority recommended key ethnic minority languages (not specified in any order) were noted as:

1. Bengali
2. Punjabi
3. Gujerati
4. Urdu
5. Arabic
6. Classical Chinese
7. Somali
8. French
9. Polish
10. Tamil

Please note that this was desk research analysing Census and LFS data on nationality and country of birth and so can give indications for languages spoken only.

View the summary report: Communicating to ethnic minority communities: recommended languages for translation

View the guidance document: Engaging marginalized communities:
Communication Guide

Source website: Central Office of Information

 


CILT Community Languages survey, 2005

In 2005, CILT carried out a survey of community language learning in the UK in local authorities, mainstream and complementary schools. As part of this research, an insight into languages spoken by school pupils in local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland was gained.

View full details of the research and the summary report

View the full list of languages by local authority (pdf). Note the figures in this table come from Ethnologue (see entry below) and relate to the numbers of speakers worldwide.

Positively Plurilingual: The contribution of community languages to UK education and society (pdf). Drawing upon the community languages survey research and sourcing many others this summary document addresses the following questions: What are the benefits of speaking more than one language? What linguistic assets do we possess as a nation? What is being done to develop them?

 


Annual School Census, language data collection

 

England:

The Annual Schools Census carried out by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) asks schools to report on the number of children with a first language other than English. The latest data for 2008 show (released 14 August 2008):

View the full statistical release at the following link:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/

To view data by local authority see table B10 (primary) and B11 (secondary) at the following link: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/LATablesWeb.xls

Read the guidance on the data published in the 2008 statistical first release tables

From January 2007, where a pupil's first language is not English, schools were asked to record the actual language (into a coding system which consists of over 300 language categories). However, it was not compulsory for schools to provide this level of detail and not all schools have chosen to use the extended language codes. In 2008, language data were received for almost 79 per cent of pupils whose first language was other than English. This number of responses was sufficient to provide summary national level findings. The 2008 data record some 240 different languages for these 79% of pupils.

To view the main languages spoken by pupils whose first language is other than English follow the link: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/Language081b.xls

Scotland:

Data from the results of the 2007 annual pupil census in publicly funded schools in Scotland (published Feb 2008) gave the following linguistic picture of school children in Scotland:

    • There are over 28,000 bilingual primary and secondary school children in Scotland (4% of all school children)
    • The top 5 home languages were reported to be Punjabi, Urdu, Polish, Cantonese and Arabic.
    • A total of 138 languages are spoken by school children in Scotland.

View the languages: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/07/28100032/23

View data by local authority: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/07/28100032/74

 

Data warning!

The school census data should be read with caution, and taken as minimum figures as a lot of schools only collect other language information about pupils who need EAL support and don't consider/ record pupils who are fluent in English.

 


Multilingual capital – London only

Over 300 different languages are spoken by London schoolchildren. The top 40 languages spoken by pupils in London are given below with the approximate total number of pupils for each language.

This comes from a survey of 850,000 children in London schools carried out by LEAs in 1998-9. See the publication for more details, analysis by borough and some commentary on the London population.

The top 40 languages spoken by pupils in London:

English 608,500
Bengali & Sylheti 40,400
Panjabi 29,800
Gujarati 28,600
Hindi/Urdu 26,000
Turkish 15,600
Arabic 11,000
English-based Creoles 10,700
Yoruba (Nigeria) 10,400
Somali 8,300
Cantonese 6,900
Greek 6,300
Akan (Ashanti) 6,000
Portuguese 6,000
French 5,600
Spanish 5,500
Tamil (Sri Lanka) 3,700
Farsi (Persian) 3,300
Italian 2,500
Vietnamese 2,400
Igbo (Nigeria) 1,900
French-based Creoles 1,800
Tagalog (Filipino) 1,600
Kurdish 1,400
Polish 1,500
Swahili 1,000
Lingala (Congo) 1,000
Albanian 900
Luganda (Uganda) 800
Ga (Ghana) 800
Tigrinya (Sudan) 800
German 800
Japanese 800
Serbian/Croatian 700
Russian 700
Hebrew 650
Korean 550
Pashto (Afganistan) 450
Amharic (Ethiopia) 450
Sinhala (Sri Lanka) 450

Source website: Baker, P. and Eversley, J. (eds) (2000) Multilingual Capital, London: Battlebridge.


Annual Population Survey (APS), Office for National Statistics


The APS is the largest adult household survey in the country with a total sample size of approximately 500,000 people. The APS includes the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) plus sample boosts to achieve higher numbers in local authority districts.

The question of 'Nationality/ National Identity' is asked. The annual 2006 APS results gave the following population estimates for the top 20 nationalities of people living in the UK:

1. UK 55,360,200
2. Irish Republic 350,644
3. India 255,653
4. Poland 234,641
5. France 117,676
6. Former USSR etc 117,256
7. USA 114,494
8. Pakistan 104,564
9. South Africa 104,184
10. Italy 95,820
11. Germany 89,266
12. Portugal 86,584
13. Bangladesh 80,060
14. Australia 78,807
15. China 70,147
16. Phillippines 68,475
17. Nigeria 67,686
18. Zimbabwe 63,045
19. Jamaica 56,740
20. Somalia 55,047

(Note: Former Czechoslovakia 66,646)

Source website: Annual Population Survey

 

Further analysis on speakers of other languages from population surveys:

    • Every 3 years the annual population survey (which incorporated the labour force survey) asks whether people speak English or another language at home. In summer 2006, it was estimated that over 2 million people speak another language at home in the UK (unfortunately, no detail is collected on the actual other language spoken at home).
    • A profile of Londoners by Language: An analysis of Labour Force Survey data on first language. This briefing uses the above APS population language data to profile the demographic and labour market characteristics of Londoners who use a first language other than English in the home. Produced by the Greater London Authority (GLA), 2006. View further GLA data reports on diversity and immigration.
    • The Regional Language Audits carried out by the Regional Language Networks have reported on nationality estimates within the regions.

 


Health Survey for England (HSE)


The HSE is a continuous survey that had a minority ethnic boost (adults only) in 1999 and main language spoken was asked. Results of language spoken by ethnicity were analysed and reported on as follows:

Black Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese respondents were asked what was their main spoken language. Virtually all the Black Caribbeans (99%) said that it was English. Among Indians, while the majority spoke English as their main language (55%), significant minorities spoke Punjabi (20%) and Gujarati (19%). Fewer than half of Pakistanis (45%) and Chinese (41%) spoke English as their main language. Other languages spoken by significant proportions of Pakistanis were Punjabi (32%) and Urdu (20%). Half of Chinese respondents named Cantonese as their main spoken language. Bangladeshis were least likely to name English as their main spoken language - only 20% did so. The main languages spoken by Bangladeshis were Bengali (54%) and Sylheti (25%).

Table: Main language spoken by minority ethnic group

Source (full report): 1999 Health Survey for England.

The minority ethnic boost was repeated in 2004. The survey is commissioned by the Department of Health and carried out by The National Centre for Social Research.


The Information centre about asylum and refugees (ICAR) in the UK


ICAR is an independent information and research organisation based in the School of Social Sciences at City University in London. Their website aims to provide up-to-date information on current issues around asylum and refugees.

ICAR have produced some navigation guides on specific communities in the UK including Algerians, Colombians, Kosovars and Somalis. ICAR are also attempting to map refugee settlement in specific towns and cities in the UK. See the statistics available on their website alongside the Mapping the UK section.

 

Multicultural London:

Researching Asylum in London (RAL) is an independent database of research on refugee and asylum issues relevant to London only.

Visit London has published information on London’s diverse communities including free downloadable guides.


The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language


For a comprehensive guide to world languages the Cambridge encyclopedia of Language, David Crystal (1997) Cambridge University Press, has a chapter on the languages of the world. It details the range of languages in past or present use - numbers, speakers and sources. The chapter quotes that there is no agreed total for the number of languages spoken in the world today. Most reference books give a figure of 5,000 to 6,000, but estimates have varied from 3,000 to 10,000. The chapter then goes on to discuss the issues. Speaker estimates for the world's top 40 languages are provided based on the number of mother-tongue speakers.

Source website: The Cambridge encyclopedia of Language, David Crystal (1997) Cambridge University Press.


BBC sources


BBC Multilingual Nation contains information about languages spoken in the British Isles.
BBC Languages across Europe provides some country and language profiles across Europe.


Ethnologue: Languages of the world


An encyclopedic reference work cataloging all of the world’s 6,912 known living languages. http://www.ethnologue.com/


 

We are working to update this information, please contact us at statistics@cilt.org.uk if you have any queries or further information to add.

Last updated 16/06/2008