Age

The trans population in Scotland, which includes non-binary people, is much younger than the overall Scottish population. Almost half (46.1%) of people with any trans status or history, which includes non-binary people, were aged 16 to 24. About half of non-binary people, as a subset of trans people, were aged 16 to 24 (52.6% or 4,751 of 9,033 people).

The proportions of people that reported a non-binary status were smaller at older age groups: 30.0% of non-binary people were aged 25 to 34 (2,711 people); 10.5% were aged 35 to 49 (948 people), 4.5% were aged 50 to 64 (406 people), and 2.4% were aged 65 and over (216 people). The reverse is true for the rest of Scotland (excluding non-binary) (Figure 2).

The Census results alone are unable to explain why there is a larger proportion of younger people in the trans status or history group, however other sources on trans people in the UK have also recorded a younger age profile for trans and non-binary respondents. The 2017 National LGBT+ survey found that respondents were on average younger than the general UK population. The survey also found that younger trans respondents under 35 were more likely to identify as non-binary. The survey however is not representative of the UK population, because it was conducted online, was self-selected, and had a higher proportion of young people responding to the survey overall. 

Figure 2: Age proportions of the non-binary population and the rest of Scotland

Source: Scotland’s Census 2022

Ethnicity

The non-binary population is more ethnically diverse than the rest of the Scottish population aged 16 and above. Around a quarter of non-binary people (25.6%) self-identified as belonging to a minority ethnic group. NRS defined ‘minority ethnic groups’ as all ethnic groups that are not white Scottish or white British. This includes mixed or multiple ethnic groups, Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British, African, African Scottish or African British, Caribbean or black, and white minorities such as Irish, Polish, Gypsy/Traveller, Roma, and Showman/Showwoman. In comparison, 12.2% of the rest of Scotland aged 16 and above identified with a minority ethnic group.

Although the percentages were notably different, the most common ethnic identities among non-binary people were the same as for the rest of Scotland: ‘white Scottish’, ‘other white British’, and ‘white other’ (Table 1).

Census statistics are not able to reveal why ethnic distribution varied in this way.

Table 1: Ethnicity of the non-binary and rest of Scotland population, ages 16 and above

Note: Where an asterisk (*) has been placed in the table, the sample size for the statistic is below 100. Caution is advised for interpreting smaller results, because it would only take a small amount of variation in the data to see a large apparent effect on the analysis of the data.

Source: Scotland’s Census 2022

Religion

The majority of non-binary people in Scotland (70.9%) did not identify with any religion. This proportion is higher in comparison to the rest of Scotland aged 16 and above of which just under half (48.9%) reported belonging to no religion.

Among all non-binary people who did report belonging to a religion, the most commonly selected religion was a Christian one. A total of 12.2% belonged to a Christian religion (3.6% Church of Scotland, 4.9% Roman Catholic, and 3.7% Other Christian). Following this, 8.1% of the non-binary population identified as Pagan, which is higher than the rest of Scotland’s population aged 16 and above (0.4%). In total, 2.8% of non-binary respondents chose not to state their religion compared to 6.1% of the rest of Scotland aged 16 and older.

NRS found that young people across all of Scotland were more likely to say they have no religion than older people. When comparing the responses of younger and older non-binary people, a larger proportion of 16 to 34 year olds reported belonging to no religion than those aged 35 and over (73.7% compared to 57.3%) (Table 2). Considering the young age profile of the non-binary population, the higher likelihood to identify with no religion compared to the rest of Scotland may be influenced by young age.

Table 2: Proportion of non-binary people and the rest of Scotland by religion and age

Note: Where an asterisk (*) has been placed in the table, the sample size for the statistic is below 100. Caution is advised for interpreting smaller results, because it would only take a small amount of variation in the data to see a large apparent effect on the analysis of the data.

Source: Scotland’s Census

Sexual Orientation

NRS describe sexual orientation as “an umbrella term covering sexual identity, attraction and behaviour. The term sexual orientation may mean different things to different people”. The Scotland’s Census 2022 question on sexual orientation was asked to respondents aged 16 and above: “Which of the following best describes your sexual orientation?”. People were asked to tick “Straight / Heterosexual”, “Gay or Lesbian”, “Bisexual” or “Other sexual orientation”. Those who ticked “Other sexual orientation” were asked to describe their sexual orientation in a write-in response.

Non-binary people were more likely to identify as LGB+ (the sum of gay or lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientation), in comparison to the rest of Scotland aged 16 and above (88.2% compared to 3.9%) (Table 3).

Table 3: Proportion of sexual orientations for non-binary people and the rest of Scotland, aged 16 and above

Source: Scotland’s Census 2022

NRS highlighted that identification with an LGB+ identity was more common among younger ages in all of Scotland, and decreased in older age. When comparing the responses of younger and older non-binary people, a similar pattern was identifiable. Overall, 93.1% of non-binary people aged 16 to 34 identified as LGB+ (the sum of gay or lesbian, bisexual, or other sexual orientation) compared to 64.5% of non-binary people aged 35 and over. Conversely, 4.0% of non-binary people aged 16 to 34 identified as heterosexual/straight compared to 28.2% of non-binary people aged 35 and over (Table 4).

Table 4: Sexual orientation of non-binary people and the rest of Scotland, by age

Source: Scotland’s Census 2022