Gay and lesbian young people ‘outnumbered by bisexuals’ for the first time as numbers soar by 45 per cent
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows many young people see sexuality as on a spectrum rather than being binary values
THE number of Brits who say they are bisexual has shot up 45 per cent in just three years, official figures show.
And for the first time, more 16 to 24-year-olds describe themselves as “bi” than as gay or lesbian.
The Office for National Statistics has called the increase “statistically significant”.
The research shows growing numbers view sexuality as being on a spectrum rather than one thing or another.
A YouGov poll last year found half of youngsters define themselves as less than 100 per cent heterosexual.
The same answer was given by almost a quarter of people as a whole in the ONS annual population survey.
It estimates that across all ages the number of people saying they are bisexual jumped from 230,000 in 2012 to 334,000 in 2015.
The number defined as gay or lesbian rose by a more modest 8.3 per cent to 586,000.
A further 206,000 were classed as “other” and the equivalent of 2.2million refused to answer or said they did not know their sexual identity.
The figures also show London is the region with the highest proportion of lesbian, gay or bisexual people, at 2.6 per cent.
The East of England has the lowest amount at 1.2 per cent.