Official statisticians do not know if the first census of transgender people in England and Wales underestimates or overestimates the true picture. They admitted respondents without good English might not have understood the survey question concerning gender.
The 2021 census reported there were 262,000 trans people, equivalent to 0.5% of the population. It was the first time the decennial survey had asked if people identified as a gender that was different from their registered birth sex. The move was heralded as a “historic step” by trans rights campaigners.
