- The Census tells us that Polish is the second most spoken main language after English as the first or preferred language both in Oxfordshire and at a national level. This accounts for 1.1% of the total population of England and Wales, and 1.2% in Oxfordshire.
- In Oxfordshire, Portuguese was the third most common main language at 0.75%, closely followed by Romanian at 0.73%.
- Romanian language users saw the greatest increase from the previous census in 2011, where at a national level it was placed as the 20th most spoken language. Romanian at the 2021 census was third most spoken English language in England and Wales behind English and Polish.
Resident’s main language
Oxford has the largest population of residents whose main language is not English (18%), and Oxfordshire’s population as a whole is similar to England and Wales in the proportion of residents whose main language isn’t English.
| Area | Main language is not English | Percentage of Residents |
|---|---|---|
| Cherwell | 14,425 | 9% |
| Oxford | 28,608 | 18% |
| South Oxfordshire | 6,930 | 5% |
| Vale of White Horse | 4,046 | 3% |
| West Oxfordshire | 7,484 | 7% |
| Oxfordshire | 61,493 | 9% |
| England and Wales | 5,134,454 | 9% |
The languages that make up our county visualised
Oxfordshire is a polyglottic county and home to many native, and non-native language speakers and multi-linguists. The below demonstrates the languages in our county where the larger the bubble, the larger the number of speakers. English is not shown.
Source: Census table TS024