he proportion of younger girls within the UK figuring out as lesbian, homosexual or bisexual (LGB) has greater than doubled in 5 years and now stands at round one in 10, new knowledge suggests.
Some 10.6% of girls aged 16 to 24 recognized as LGB in 2022, up from 4.8% in 2017, in keeping with estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Amongst 16 to 24-year-old males the proportion is barely decrease, at 7.9% in 2022 – round one in 13 – up from 3.8% in 2017.
LGB identification is greater amongst younger adults than in another age group, the ONS discovered.
A complete of 9.2% of all 16 to 24-year-olds (630,000 people) are estimated to determine as LGB, in contrast with 5.1% of 25 to 34-year-olds, 3% amongst these aged 35 to 49 and a couple of% of fifty to 64-year-olds.
The determine dips to 0.7% for individuals aged 65 and over, although this proportion has remained broadly secure in recent times and is just like 2017.
Throughout the entire UK inhabitants aged 16 and over, an estimated 3.3% determine as LGB, the equal of 1.8 million individuals.
That is up from 2.1%, or 1.1 million individuals, in 2017.
The proportion figuring out as heterosexual has fallen over the identical interval, from 95% to 93.4%.
This drop “could also be attributed to extra individuals exploring their sexual identification, together with altering societal attitudes in direction of completely different teams and the expression of those at this time,” the ONS mentioned.
A breakdown of the figures exhibits that throughout the LGB inhabitants, the vast majority of 16 to 24-year-olds determine as bisexual, whereas in every of the opposite age teams the bulk determine as homosexual or lesbian.
Of the 9.2% of individuals within the UK aged 16-24 who determine as LGB, simply over two-thirds determine as bisexual.
In contrast, slightly below half of LGB 25 to 34-year-olds determine as bisexual, with the proportion falling to a couple of quarter for 35 to 49-year-olds and one in seven of LGB 50 to 64-year-olds.
This pattern doesn’t proceed into the oldest age group, nonetheless.
Inside the 85,000 individuals aged 65 and over estimated to determine as LGB, 25,000 – about three in 10 – determine as bisexual.
Throughout the nations and areas of the UK, London has the best proportion of individuals aged 16 and over figuring out as LGB, at 5.3% or about one in 20.
The East Midlands has the bottom proportion amongst areas (2.1%), whereas Northern Ireland is lowest amongst nations (1.8%), a way behind Wales (4.3%), Scotland (3.4%) and England (3.3%).