Carmarthenshire has seen the biggest decline in the number of Welsh speakers in past decade, according to the latest census data released by the Office of National Statistics.

The overall drop in the county was by four per cent, from 43.9 per cent to 39.9 per cent of the population able to speak Welsh.

Carmarthenshire had also seen the biggest decline in Welsh speakers from 2001 to 2011, according to the previous census data.

The latest figures show a three per cent drop in the county for Welsh speakers aged 16 to 65, which is the biggest decline for the age group in the country.

Carmarthenshire also saw the biggest drop in the number of Welsh speakers aged 65+ of all local authorities in the county, with a decrease of 4.1 per cent.

Across Wales, there was a drop of 1.2 per cent in those able to speak Welsh, from 562,000 (19 per cent of the population) in 2011, to 538,000 (17.8 per cent of the population) by 2021.

The percentage of people able to speak Welsh recorded in 2021 is the lowest ever recorded in a census.

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Cefin Campbell, Senedd member for Mid and West Wales said: "Figures for the Welsh language across Mid & West Wales are hugely disappointing and clearly raise significant concerns. 

“In Carmarthenshire, the three per cent drop in the 16-64-year-old category is alarming and dramatically contrasts to the increase seen in this age group nationally.

“It’s increasingly apparent that we’re facing an outward migration of young people from our Welsh speaking communities – driven by a lack of employment opportunities and affordable housing – along with a growing influx of people born outside Wales. 

“Whilst a drop of 2.6 per cent in Welsh speakers between 3-15 years old was seen in Carmarthenshire, the fact this was significantly less than the picture across Wales does provide some comfort to the local authority who have worked hard over recent years in increasing Welsh medium education, but clearly much more needs to be done.”