Table 3. Estimates of size of sexual minority populations in Britain for men and women aged 16–74 years.
Men | Women | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Natsal-3 estimate of prevalence | Estimated no. peoplea | Natsal-3 estimate of prevalence | Estimated no. peoplea | |
Number of people aged 16–74 years in Britain from Census data | 21,896,653 | 22,765,718 | ||
Sexual identity | ||||
Heterosexual/Straight | 97.1% | 21,261,650 | 97.3% | 22,151,044 |
Gay/Lesbian | 1.5% | 328,450 | 1.0% | 227,657 |
Bisexual | 1.0% | 218,967 | 1.4% | 318,720 |
Total LGB | 2.5% | 547,416 | 2.4% | 546,377 |
Other sexual identities | 0.3% | 65,690 | 0.3% | 68,297 |
Sexual Attraction | ||||
Opposite sex only | 93.0% | 20,363,887 | 87.8% | 19,988,300 |
More often opposite sex, at least once same sex | 4.0% | 875,866 | 9.2% | 2,094,446 |
About equal | 0.6% | 131,380 | 1.1% | 250,423 |
More often same sex, at least once opposite sex | 1.0% | 218,967 | 0.8% | 182,126 |
Same sex only | 0.9% | 197,070 | 0.4% | 91,063 |
Total any same-sex attraction | 6.5% | 1,423,282 | 11.5% | 2,618,058 |
Never felt sexually attracted to anyone | 0.5% | 109,483 | 0.8% | 182,126 |
Sexual Experience | ||||
Opposite sex only | 91.7% | 20,079,231 | 88.0% | 20,033,832 |
More often opposite sex, at least once same sex | 4.8% | 1,051,039 | 9.3% | 2,117,212 |
About equal | 0.3% | 65,690 | 0.6% | 136,594 |
More often same sex, at least once opposite sex | 1.0% | 218,967 | 0.6% | 136,594 |
Same sex only | 0.7% | 153,277 | 0.2% | 45,531 |
Total any same-sex experience | 6.8% | 1,488,972 | 10.7% | 2,435,932 |
Never had sexual experience with anyone | 1.5% | 328,450 | 1.3% | 295,954 |
Same-sex experience without genital contact | 2.4% | 525,520 | 5.3% | 1,206,583 |
Same-sex sex everb | 5.5% | 1,204,316 | 6.1% | 1,388,709 |
Recent same-sex sex (past 5 years) | 2.6% | 569,313 | 3.2% | 728,503 |
aEstimates obtained by multiplying ONS 2011 census population estimates of number of people aged 16–74 years in British population by prevalence estimates from Natsal-3
bSame-sex experience with genital contact ever