The Office for National Statistics has published its latest breakdown of sexual orientation for the UK, presenting figures by region, sex, age and legal partnership status for the most recent reporting period. According to the original report, the headline picture shows a modest decline in the share of people identifying as heterosexual alongside a marked rise in respondents, particularly younger adults, identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual.
Industry data shows that 93.6% of the UK population identified as heterosexual in 2023, down from 94.6% in 2018. The shift is concentrated among younger cohorts: the proportion of 16 to 24‑year‑olds identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual rose to 10.4% in 2023 from 4.4% in 2018. The ONS attributes much of the change to evolving social attitudes and greater willingness to report non‑heterosexual identities.
Much of the numerical increase is driven by a rise in bisexual identification. The ONS data indicates 7.5% of 16 to 24‑year‑olds described themselves as bisexual in 2023, up from 2.8% in 2018. That pattern, large relative increases in bisexual identification among younger people, has been noted consistently across coverage of the release.
The regional and partnership breakdowns supplied by the statistics add nuance: younger, urban populations and areas with larger student communities showed higher proportions of LGB identification, while older age groups remained overwhelmingly likely to identify as heterosexual. The ONS release explores those differences without claiming a single explanatory cause, instead pointing to a mixture of social change, cohort effects and changing willingness to disclose sexual orientation on surveys.
Campaign groups urged policymakers and organisations to treat the figures as more than demographic curiosity. Stonewall said the data underlines that LGB people are an expanding and visible part of UK society; Stonewall’s chief executive, Simon Blake, warned the figures should be “a wake‑up call” for organisations and governments backtracking on LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion. The comment reflects calls from advocacy groups for maintained or strengthened protections and inclusion measures in education, health and workplaces.
Media coverage and analysts cautioned that trends in self‑identification can reflect both genuine changes in sexual orientation distribution and changing social norms about disclosure. Some commentators noted survey methodology and question‑framing can influence responses over time, and that the ONS comparisons span a period of rapid cultural change. According to the original report, the ONS continues to refine its approach to measuring sexual orientation to improve comparability and inclusiveness.
Taken together, the statistics portray a UK in which a small but growing share of people, especially younger adults, describe themselves as LGB, driven largely by rising bisexual identification and by changing social and survey dynamics. The numbers pose questions for public services, employers and politicians about how to respond to a more visibly diverse population while recognising methodological caveats flagged by statisticians.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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