The number of people who can speak the Welsh language has declined in Ceredigion and Gwynedd, Census 2021 figures show.

Data released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows 45.3 per cent of people in Ceredigion can speak Welsh which is down from 47.3 per cent since 2011.

Neighbouring Gwynedd, where more than two thirds of people can speak Welsh, saw only a one per cent drop in speakers while Powys was down 2.2 per cent.

Last week, it was revealed that nearly half of Ceredigion’s residents regard themselves as Welsh before any other nationality, including British and English. This was the same for three in five of Gwynedd residents. Both were equal to their proportion in 2011.

The number of Welsh speakers across the nation has gone from 19 per cent in 2011 to 17.8 per cent as of last year when the Census, which is put together every decade, was compiled.

This equates to 538,000 people which is down 24,000 on the 2011 figure (562,000).

There was however an increase in speakers among those aged between 16 to 19 and 20 to 44 years old in the last decade. This was also true in Ceredigion.

An ONS spokesperson said: “One of the main factors contributing to the overall decrease in the percentage of people who reported being able to speak Welsh between 2011 and 2021 was the decrease in children and young people aged three to 15 years who reported this skill.

“The percentage of usual residents aged three years and over able to speak Welsh decreased between 2011 and 2021 in all local authorities except Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Merthyr Tydfil.

“Among children and young people aged 3 to 15 years, the percentage who could speak Welsh decreased in all local authorities between 2011 and 2021.”

In 2017 the Welsh Government announced the Welsh language strategy which contained an objective to reach one million speakers by 2050.

People identifying as Welsh has always been considered an important metric by which to measure the appetite among the nation’s residents for it to be its own nation.

In contrast to national trends, figures show 47 per cent of people in Ceredigion identified as Welsh only when the census took place last year – equal to the proportion in 2011. The same could be said for 59 per cent of people in Gwynedd.

And 22 per cent of Ceredigion residents selected British only in the recent survey, while 20 per cent chose the option a decade ago. This was the same for 15 per cent of Gwynedd residents up for 14 per cent 10 years ago.

Census deputy director Jon Wroth-Smith said the recent data highlights that we are living in an ‘increasingly multi-cultural society’ across England and Wales, with fewer people saying they belong to a particular nation.