Disabled people’s outcomes in health, housing, education, and economic status (Census 2021)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published Census 2021 data on Disability in England and Wales on Thursday 19 January 2023. On the same day, we published our topic summary Health, disability and provision of unpaid care in Wales (Census 2021). Since then, the ONS has also published two other disability releases

• Disability by age, sex and deprivation, England and Wales (Census 2021) (ONS)
• Protected characteristics by disability status, England and Wales (Census 2021) (ONS)

This statistical bulletin contains additional summary data on disability by various socio-economic outcomes for individuals and households who were usual residents of Wales at the time of the census, 21 March 2021. It tells us how such outcomes varied for disabled and non-disabled people across Wales. The bulletin also contains analysis of disability by age and sex for context.

To account for differences in age structures in the population groups we are comparing, the percentages in this article have been age-standardised unless stated otherwise. Age standardisation is helpful in this analysis where disabled people are more likely to be in older age groups than non-disabled people, and where age may also impact on the outcome variables we explore. All non-age-standardised data that underlies the analysis in this release can be accessed via the Census 2021 flexible table builder (ONS).

For further information on age-standardised proportions see quality and methodology information.

Census 2021 asked a two-part question on disability. Usual residents were firstly asked to report if they have a long-term physical or mental health condition or illness, lasting or expected to last 12 months or more. Those who answered “Yes” were then asked whether this limited their day-to-day activities. Possible responses were “Not at all”, “Yes, a little”, or “Yes, a lot”. Those whose day-to-day activities were limited “a little” or ”a lot” have been defined as disabled in this analysis. Those who reported having a condition that doesn't affect day-to-day activities or reported having no condition have been defined in this analysis as non-disabled.

For the full 2021 Census question on disability see quality and methodology information.

The approach used in the Census aims to collect data that closely aligns with the definition of disability in the Equality Act (2010) (Gov.UK). By this definition, people who self-assessed their day-to-day activities as limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses are considered disabled. This is informed by the medical model of disability which defines people as disabled by their impairment. In 2002 the Welsh Government adopted the social model of disability (Disability Wales). This model sets out a different way to view disability – rather than defining people as disabled by their impairment (as in the medical model of disability), people with impairments are disabled by physical, attitudinal, and organisational barriers created by society.

The data included in this statistical bulletin reflects the medical model of disability. However, where possible, we have used language that aligns with the social model of disability.

• The proportion of disabled people increased steeply by age and disability was more likely to be reported by females than by males.
• Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were more likely to report being in bad or very bad general health.
• Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little were the most likely to provide unpaid care to another person.
• Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were slightly more likely to experience overcrowding in terms of not having enough bedrooms.
• Disabled people were more likely to live in social housing and less likely to own their own home compared to non-disabled people.
• Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were much more likely to hold no formal qualifications.
• Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were much more likely to be economically inactive than non-disabled people or those whose day-to-day activities were limited a little.
• Non-disabled people were more likely to hold managerial, professional, or administrative socio-economic status than disabled people.

The population in Wales recorded on Census Day, 21 March 2021, was 3,107,500. Of this population, questions on disability were asked to all usual residents within Wales. The definition of a usual resident can be found in the quality and methodology section.

The proportion of disabled people in Wales was 21.1%. This comprised of 11.1% who responded that their day-to-day activities were limited a little by their conditions or illnesses, and 10.0% that were limited a lot.

The proportion of non-disabled people was 78.9%. Within this group, 6.7% reported having a long term physical or mental health condition which did not limit their day-to-day activities. Over a quarter (27.8%) of usual residents in Wales reported having some kind of long-term physical or mental health condition.

Figure 1: Proportion of usual residents defined as disabled under the Equality Act (2010), Wales, 2021

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Description of Figure 1: This pie chart shows the proportion of people in Wales who fell into each of four disability categories. The largest segment of the pie chart represents those who reported being non-disabled and having no long-term condition. The smallest segment represents non-disabled people with a long-term condition.

Source: Census 2021 

The data in this section uses age specific percentages and is not age-standardised. As such, these age specific percentages are not comparable to the age-standardised figures in the rest of the bulletin.

There was a higher proportion of disabled people within older age groups. Of people aged 50 years and over, 32.9% reported being disabled, compared to 13.4% of those under 50 years old.

Older disabled people were also more likely than younger disabled people to report that their day-to-day activities were limited a lot. Of disabled people aged 50 or over, 50.0% reported that their conditions or illnesses limited their day-to-day activities a lot, compared to 42.0% of disabled people aged under 50.

There was a higher proportion of disabled females (23.2%) compared to disabled males (19.8%,). Both females (6.7%) and males (6.6%) were equally likely to report having a long-term condition that does not limit their day-to-day activities.

Females aged over 84 were the most likely out of all age-sex groups to report being disabled (63.0%), while females under 5 were the least likely (2.3%).

Females were more likely to report being disabled in all age groups except those under 15 years old. Males aged 5 to 9 years old were almost twice as likely to have been reported as being disabled than females in this age group (8.6% versus 4.6%).

Figure 2: Percentage of disabled people in Wales by age and sex, 2021

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Description of Figure 2: This clustered bar chart shows the age-specific percentages of usual residents in Wales who reported being disabled, split by sex and 18 age groups. The chart shows a steady increase in the proportion of disabled people as age increases.

Source: Census 2021 

All percentages in the remainder of this bulletin have been age-standardised.

General health is a self-assessment of a person’s general state of health. People were asked to assess whether their health was very good, good, fair, bad, or very bad. This assessment is not based on a person's health over any specified period of time. Further information can be found in the Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonised standard.

Around one quarter (25.1%) of disabled people reported being in bad or very bad general health, compared to 0.7% of non-disabled people.

Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were more likely to report having bad or very bad general health (45.1%) than those whose activities were limited a little (8.2%).

Of disabled people whose activities were limited a lot, 12.3% reported being in very bad health, compared to 0.6% of those whose day-to-day activities were limited a little and 0.1% of non-disabled people.

Non-disabled people were considerably more likely to report they were in good or very good health (91.2%), compared to disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (50.4%) and limited a lot (22.3%).

Figure 3: Proportion of disabled and non-disabled people by general health, Wales, 2021 [Note 1]

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Description of Figure 3: This bar chart shows age-standardised proportions for non-disabled people, those disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little and those whose activities were limited a lot by general health categories. It shows that non-disabled people were much more likely to report being in good or very good health, and disabled people were more likely to report being in fair, bad, or very bad health.

Source: Census 2021

[Note 1]: The percentages for some groups are very small, which may make their percentages difficult to read from the chart. These include non-disabled people who report bad or very bad health, and disabled people whose day-to-day activities are limited a little who report very bad health.

Census 2021 asked people whether they look after, or give any help or support to, anyone because they have long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses, or problems related to old age. This excludes anything done as part of paid employment and can be within or outside the carer’s household.

Those who answered “yes” were required to indicate the number of hours of unpaid care a week provided from 5 groupings: 9 hours or less, 10 to 19 hours, 20 to 34 hours, 35 to 49 hours and 50 or more. In this section, the total population base includes all usual residents aged 5 years and over.

Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little were the most likely to provide unpaid care (16.5%), followed by disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot (11.1%). Non-disabled people were the least likely to provide unpaid care (9.7%).

Of those who provided unpaid care, disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were more likely to provide over 50 hours of unpaid care a week (47.5%). This compares to those whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (35.2%), and non-disabled people (31.6%).

Figure 4: Percentage of disabled and non-disabled people by hours of unpaid care provision, Wales, 2021

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Description of Figure 4: This stacked bar chart shows the proportion of disabled and non-disabled usual residents over 5 years of age in Wales who provided unpaid care, split by how many hours of care they provided per week. It shows that disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little were the most likely to report that they provided unpaid care, followed by disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot.

Source: Census 2021

Usual residents in households were asked how they would describe the tenure of their accommodation out of 8 options. These options have been condensed into 4 categories in this bulletin. The data is unavailable for household spaces with no usual residents. More information can be found in the quality and methodology information section.

Non-disabled people were the most likely to own their home, either outright or with a mortgage (70.3%), followed by disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (55.5%) and those whose activities were limited a lot (43.1%).

These differences are largely due to differences between respondents having a mortgage rather than owning their home outright. Non-disabled people were the most likely to own their home with a mortgage (38.1%), followed by disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (28.7%), and limited a lot (17.9%).

Disabled people whose activities were limited a lot were the most likely to live in socially rented housing (38.0%), followed by disabled people whose activities were limited a little (24.5%). Non-disabled people were much less likely than disabled people to live in social rented housing (12.9%).

The differences between those who rented privately are smaller. Disabled people whose activities are limited a little were slightly more likely to rent privately (20.0%) than those whose activities are limited a lot (19.0%) and non-disabled people (16.8%).

Figure 5: Proportion of Disabled and Non-disabled people by tenure of household, Wales, 2021

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Description of Figure 5: This bar chart shows the proportion of disabled and non-disabled usual residents in households who lived in each category of housing tenure. It shows that non-disabled people were the most likely to own their home. Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were the least likely to own their home and the most likely to social rent.

Source: Census 2021

Occupancy rating for bedrooms provides a measure of whether a household's accommodation is overcrowded, ideally occupied or under-occupied. This is calculated by comparing the number of bedrooms the household requires to the number of available bedrooms.

An occupancy rating of +1 or more implies that a household’s accommodation is under-occupied. A rating of -1 or less implies the household is overcrowded. A rating of 0 suggests an ideal number of bedrooms. It should be noted that the Bedroom Standard is only an indicator of under or overcrowding, it does not consider any additional space requirements a respondent may need in their day-to-day lives.   

Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were the most likely to live in overcrowded households (6.0%), followed by disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (5.1%). Non-disabled people were the least likely to experience over-crowding (4.5%). Non-disabled people were also the most likely to have more bedrooms than required (71.3%), followed by disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot (64.6%), and a little (59.0%)

Figure 6: Proportion of disabled and non-disabled people by Occupancy rating for bedrooms, Wales, 2021

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Description of Figure 6: This bar chart shows the proportion of usual residents in households who reported whether their accommodation was overcrowded (with a rating of -1 or less), under-occupied (with a rating of +1 or more) or ideally occupied (with a rating of 0), based on the number of bedrooms in their dwelling. It shows that disabled people were slightly more likely to experience overcrowding and less likely to experience under-occupancy homes than non-disabled people.

Source: Census 2021

Usual residents in Wales aged 16 and over were asked to record any qualifications they had ever achieved in Wales or elsewhere, even if they were not using them now. This can be used to calculate the highest level of qualification using the following categories:

• No qualifications: No formal qualifications
• Level 1: 1 to 4 GCSE passes (i.e. grade A* to C or grade 4 and above) and any other GCSEs at other grades, Foundation Welsh Baccalaureate, or equivalent qualifications.
• Level 2: 5+ GCSE passes (i.e. grade A* to C or grade 4 and above), Intermediate Welsh Baccalaureate, or equivalent qualifications.
• Apprenticeships
• Level 3: 2+ A Levels, Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate, or equivalent qualifications.
• Level 4 or above: Higher National Certificate, Higher National Diploma, Bachelor’s degree, or post-graduate qualifications.
• Other qualifications, of unknown level.

Levels 1 to 3 have been combined into a single group and apprenticeships have been included in the “Other” category for the purpose of this bulletin. The following statistics apply to usual residents aged 16 and above only.

Over a quarter (27.5%) of disabled people had no formal qualifications, compared to 16.7% of non-disabled people. While there were small differences in the highest level of qualifications achieved between non-disabled and disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little, disabled people whose activities were limited a lot were much more likely to hold no formal qualifications.  37.1% of disabled people whose activities were limited a lot held no formal qualifications, compared to disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (20%), and non-disabled people (16.7%).

Disabled people whose activities were limited a lot were also less likely to have achieved a qualification at Level 4 or above (17.0%) compared to those whose activities were limited a little (28.7%) and non-disabled people (34.1%).

There was little difference between disabled and non-disabled people in terms of the ‘Other’ education category, which includes apprenticeships, vocational or work-related qualifications. Disabled people whose activities were limited a lot were the most likely to have achieved a qualification in this category (8.2%) closely followed by disabled people who were limited a little (8.0%) and non-disabled people (7.9%).

Figure 7: Proportions of disabled and non-disabled people by highest level of qualification achieved, Wales, 2021

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Description of Figure 7: This bar chart shows the proportion of usual residents in Wales aged 16 and over by their highest level of qualification. Disabled people whose daily activities were limited a lot were the most likely to hold no qualifications and the least likely to hold qualifications at level 4 or above.

Source: Census 2021

Usual residents aged 16 and over were asked about their economic activity status. The questions asked whether a person was working or looking for work in the week before Census 2021. In this analysis there are four main types of economic activity status we look at:

• Economically active: Employee
• Economically active: Self-employed
• Economically active: Unemployed (people who are looking to start work within two weeks, or waiting to start a job that had been offered and accepted)
• Economically inactive: people who did not have a job between 15 March to 21 March 2021 and had not looked for work between 22 February to 21 March 2021, or could not start work within two weeks.

There was no separate category for students, who fell into one of these categories depending on their economic activity outside of their studies. For this analysis, we looked at usual residents aged between 16 and 64 years. People older than this age group were much more likely to be economically inactive.

Disabled people (aged 16 to 64 years) were much more likely to be economically inactive (57.3%) than non-disabled people (19.9%). Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were the most likely to report being economically inactive (81.0%), followed by those whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (39.4%).

The proportion of those who reported being unemployed was highest amongst disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (5.9%) followed by non-disabled people (4.1%) and disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot (2.4%). The lower percentage for disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot may be due to the higher likelihood of people in this category being economically inactive.

Over three-quarters (76%) of non-disabled people reported that they were employees or self-employed, compared to just over half (54.7%) of disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little, and one sixth (16.6%) of those whose activities were limited a lot.

Figure 8: Proportion of disabled and non-disabled people by economic activity status, Wales, 2021

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Description of Figure 8: This bar chart shows the proportion of disabled and non-disabled usual residents (aged 16 to 64) who fell into each of the four categories of economic status. It shows that non-disabled people were the most likely to be an employee or self-employed. Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were the most likely to be economically inactive.

Source: Census 2021

Reasons for economic inactivity

Long-term sickness or having a disability was the reason given for economic inactivity by 70.7% of disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot and 30.5% of those whose activities were limited a little. Long-term sickness or having a disability was the least common reason given for economic inactivity by non-disabled people (4.5%).

Non-disabled people were the most likely to report that their economic inactivity was a result of looking after their home or family (38.7%), followed by being a full-time student (22.5%).

Figure 9: Proportion of disabled and non-disabled people by reason for economic inactivity, Wales, 2021

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Description of Figure 9: This bar chart shows the proportion of economically inactive usual residents (aged 16 to 64) and their reasons for economic inactivity. It shows that the most common reason given for economic inactivity amongst disabled people was a long-term sickness.

Source Census 2021

The National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) provides an indication of socio-economic position, based on responses to economic activity status, occupation, and employment history questions in Census 2021. It is an ONS standard classification.

There are 9 different NS-SEC categories, which have been condensed into 5 “high-level” categories for the purpose of this bulletin. The way in which these categories have been condensed is shown in Table 2 in the quality and methodology section. For this analysis, we looked at usual residents aged between 16 and 64 years old.

Non-disabled people were the most likely to hold managerial, administrative, or professional socio-economic status (32.8%), followed by disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (23.7%) and disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot (12.5%).

Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were the most likely to hold routine or semi-routine occupation socio-economic status (29.8%) followed by those whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (28.5%), and non-disabled people (24.1%).

Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were also much more likely to have never worked or to be long-term unemployed (29.7%), compared to those whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (11.8%) and non-disabled people (4.3%).

The proportion of full-time students was similar between non-disabled people (10.9%) and disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a little (11.6%), and slightly lower amongst disabled people whose activities were limited a lot (9.4%).

Figure 10: Proportion of disabled and non-disabled people by National Statistics socio-economic classification (NS-SeC), Wales, 2021

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Description of Figure 10: This bar chart shows the proportions of disabled and non-disabled usual residents (aged 16 to 64) who fell into each of 5 socio-economic categories. It shows that non-disabled people were more likely to hold managerial, administrative or professional roles. Disabled people whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot were the most likely to hold routine or semi-routine occupations and the most likely to have never worked or to be long-term unemployed.

Source: Census 2021

For full quality and methodology information, including a full glossary of terms, please visit the ONS’ quality and methodology information report. Further information on quality assurance processes is provided in the Maximising the quality of Census 2021 population estimates methodology (ONS).

Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

Census 2021 was conducted during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This may have influenced how people perceive and rate their health and therefore may have affected how people chose to respond. Population change in certain areas may reflect how the pandemic affected people’s choice of usual residence on Census Day. These changes might have been temporary for some and more long-lasting for others.

As a result of the pandemic, the UK government had introduced furlough measures to ensure those who could not work were able to remain in employment. When completing the Census 2021 form, people on furlough were advised to say that they were temporarily away from work, as were those who were quarantining or self-isolating because of the pandemic. The number of people who were economically inactive might be higher than anticipated as it is possible that some people on furlough may have identified as economically inactive, instead of temporarily away from work. There are some differences between Census 2021 data on employment and data based on the Labour Force Survey. These differences are explained in the article Comparing Census 2021 and Labour Force Survey estimates of the labour market, England and Wales, produced by the ONS.

Glossary

For a full glossary of terms, please see the ONS’ Census 2021 dictionary.

Age standardisation

Age-standardised proportions (ASPs) are used to allow for comparisons to be made between populations that may contain different overall population sizes and proportions of people of different ages. To read more about age standardisation and why it is important, read the ONS’ publication Age standardising data: What does this mean and why does it matter?

The 2013 European Standard Population is used to standardise percentages. This is a hypothetical population and assumes that the age structure is the same in both sexes, therefore allowing comparisons to be made between the sexes as well as between geographical areas and over time. The standard populations are listed in Annex F of the Revision of the European Standard Population: Report of Eurostat's task force and Revised European Standard Population: 2013 ESP.

Usual residents

A "usual resident” is anyone who on Census Day, 21 March 2021, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

Usual residents in households

“Usual residents in households” are usual residents who live in a UK household, in which a household is defined as either one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room, or dining area. A household must contain at least one person whose usual place of residence is at the address. A group of short-term residents living together is not classified as a household, and neither is a group of people at an address where only visitors are staying. A household is considered to be disabled if at least one usual resident is classified as disabled under the Equality Act (2010). This population does not include people who live in communal establishments such as care homes or student halls of residence.

Disability classification categories

The four disability categories analysed in this bulletin are listed below.

1. Disabled under the Equality Act: Day-to-day activities limited a lot
2. Disabled under the Equality Act: Day-to-day activities limited a little
3. Not disabled under the Equality Act: Has long-term physical or mental health condition but day-to-day activities are not limited
4. Not disabled under the Equality Act: No long-term physical or mental health conditions

Note that in this bulletin, categories 3 and 4 were merged into one “Non-disabled” category unless specifically stated otherwise.

Census 2021 question

To be classified as disabled under the Equality Act (2010), an individual must have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities, where ‘substantial’ means more than minor or trivial and ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more.

In the 2021 census, the question was split into two parts:

1. Do you have any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expected to last 12 months or more?

• Yes
• No

2. People who chose "Yes" to this question were then asked: Do any of your conditions or illnesses reduce your ability to carry out day-to-day activities?

• Yes, a lot
• Yes, a little
• Not at all

Housing tenure categories

The 8 options in the housing tenure categories have been condensed into 4 high level groups as follows.

High-level category: owns outright

Question options

• Owned: owns outright

High-level category: owns with a mortgage

Question options

• Owned: owns with a mortgage or loan
• Shared ownership: shared ownership

High-level category: social rented

Question options

• Social rented: rents from council or local authority
• Social rented: other social rented

High-level category: private rented

Question options

• Private rented: private landlord or letting agency
• Private rented: other private rented
• Lives rent free

Occupancy rating for bedrooms

The occupancy rating for bedrooms is calculated by comparing the number of bedrooms the household requires to the number of available bedrooms. The number of bedrooms the household requires is calculated according to the Bedroom Standard which takes into account the age, sex and relationship of those in the household. More information on what this means can be found on the ONS variable dictionary for occupancy rating.

Economic activity

Is a measure of whether or not a person was an active participant in the labour market during this period. Economically inactive are those aged 16 years and over who did not have a job between 15 March to 21 March 2021 and had not looked for work between 22 February to 21 March 2021 or could not start work within two weeks. Find the full list of 19 categories in the Economic activity status variable dictionary entry (ONS).

Socio-economic categories

The five socio-economic categories analysed in this bulletin have been condensed from the nine original National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) categories, as shown below. Further information on the NS-SEC categories can be found in ONS’ The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC).

National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification categories condensed into five high-level categories

High-level category: managerial, administrative, or professional

NS-SEC categories

• L1, L2 and L3: Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations
• L4, L5 and L6: Lower managerial, administrative and professional occupations

High-level category: intermediate, small employers or supervisory

NS-SEC categories

• L7: Intermediate occupations
• L8 and L9: Small employers and own account workers
• L10 and L11: Lower supervisory and technical occupations

High-level category: routine or semi-routine

NS-SEC categories

• L12: Semi-routine occupations
• L13: Routine occupations

High-level category: long-term unemployed or inactive

NS-SEC categories

• L14.1 and L14.2: Never worked and long-term unemployed

High-level category: students

NS-SEC categories

• L15: Full-time students

National Statistics status

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

National Statistics status means that official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.

All official statistics should comply with all aspects of the Code of Practice for Statistics. They are awarded National Statistics status following an assessment by the UK Statistics Authority’s regulatory arm. The Authority considers whether the statistics meet the highest standards of Code compliance, including the value they add to public decisions and debate.

It is Welsh Government’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected of National Statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. National Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

The designation of these statistics as National Statistics was confirmed to the ONS in June 2022 following a full assessment against the Code of Practice by the Office for Statistics Regulation.

Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG)

The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place seven wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators (“national indicators”) that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before Senedd Cymru. Under section 10(8) of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, where the Welsh Ministers revise the national indicators, they must as soon as reasonably practicable (a) publish the indicators as revised and (b) lay a copy of them before the Senedd. These national indicators were laid before the Senedd in 2021. The indicators laid on 14 December 2021 replace the set laid on 16 March 2016.

Information on the indicators, along with narratives for each of the wellbeing goals and associated technical information is available in the Wellbeing of Wales report.

Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

The statistics included in this release could also provide supporting narrative to the national indicators and be used by public services boards in relation to their local wellbeing assessments and local wellbeing plans.

Statisticians: Edward Wilkinson and John Poole
Email: stats.inclusion@gov.wales

Media: 0300 025 8099

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SB: 44/2023