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Welsh language - Wikipedia

Welsh language

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Welsh (Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ]) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina).1 Historically, it has also been known in English as British,2 Cambrian,3 Cambric4 and Cymric.5

The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave the Welsh language official status in Wales.6 Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Senedd (the Welsh parliament).78 According to the 2021 census, 538,300 usual residents in Wales aged three or over (17.8% of the population) were able to speak Welsh, while just over a quarter (25.1%) reported having some Welsh language skills.9

Other surveys have produced higher figures: a survey in 2022–2023 found that 34% of people aged 16 or over could speak Welsh (of whom 18 per cent said they could speak Welsh, and 16 per cent said they had some Welsh speaking ability).10 In December 2025, other survey data estimated that 844,300 people (27.3%) aged three or over in Wales could speak Welsh.11

Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20% are able to speak a fair amount.12 56% of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19% speak the language weekly.12 Since 1951, the number of Welsh speakers living in Wales has gone up, though the percentage of Welsh speakers with respect to the entire population of Wales has decreased every census year, with the exception of the 1991 and the 2001 UK Census.

The Welsh Government plans to increase the number of Welsh-language speakers to one million, and to double the daily use of the language, by 2050.13 Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased.14 Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO.15

Printed 2026-07-23.

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Footnotes

  1. Edwards, Huw. “Why do they speak Welsh in South America?”. BBC iWonder. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2017. ↩

  2. E.g. in the Act of Uniformity 1662 (13–14 Chas. II, c. 55) §27: “That the Book [of Common Prayer] hereunto annexed be truly and exactly translated into the British or Welsh tongue.” ↩

  3. Nolan, Edward Henry (1859). Great Britain As It Is. London: John Lane & Co. p. 47. Retrieved 10 September 2018. ↩

  4. Jackson, John (1752). Chronological Antiquities. Vol. III. London: J Noon. p. 143. ↩

  5. Walter Thomas, Mrs D; Hughes, Edward (1879), The Cymric Language, Cardiff: D Duncan & Sons ↩

  6. “Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011”. legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 30 May 2016. The Welsh language has official status in Wales. ↩

  7. “National Assembly for Wales (Official Languages) Act 2012”. www.legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 19 April 2018. The official languages of the Assembly are English and Welsh. ↩

  8. *Dunbar, R (2007). *Diversity in addressing diversity: Canadian and British legislative approaches to linguistic minorities and their international legal context. In: Williams C (ed) Language and Governance. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 104. ↩

  9. “Welsh language in Wales (Census 2021) [HTML] | GOV.WALES”. www.gov.wales. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2025. ↩

  10. “Welsh language speaking ability and use (National Survey for Wales): April 2022 to March 2023 [HTML] | GOV.WALES”. www.gov.wales. 14 August 2025. Retrieved 27 August 2025. ↩

  11. “Welsh language data from the Annual Population Survey: October 2024 to September 2025 [HTML] | GOV.WALES”. www.gov.wales. 21 January 2026. Retrieved 22 January 2026. ↩

  12. “Welsh language use in Wales (initial findings): July 2019 to March 2020 (revised) | GOV.WALES”. www.gov.wales. 17 February 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2023. ↩ ↩2

  13. “Cymraeg 2050: work programme 2021 to 2026 [HTML] | GOV.WALES”. www.gov.wales. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2025. ↩

  14. “Almost a quarter of children in Wales are taught only in Welsh, as the language experiences a revival”. ITV News. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2020. ↩

  15. Luain, Cathal Ó (15 December 2010). “Unesco: Status of Celtic languages outlined by atlas”. Agence Bretagne Presse (in French). Retrieved 25 May 2023. ↩