ALMOST 10,000 York residents identified as LGBT in the latest census, the figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics introduced the voluntary questions on sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time in the 2021 census.

The figures revealed that 9,554 people in York identified as a sexual orientation other than heterosexual, making up 5.6 per cent of the census respondents in the city.

The most common LGB+ sexuality in York was bisexual - 51.3 per cent of those who did not identify as heterosexual - and 35.7 per cent said they were gay or lesbian.

The majority of residents said they were heterosexual (86.5 per cent).

Across England and Wales, about 1.5 million people identified with an LGB+ sexual orientation in the 2021 census, making up 3.2 per cent.

Overall, 1.5 per cent described themselves as gay or lesbian, 1.3 per cent described themselves as bisexual, and 0.3 per cent selected the 'other sexual orientation' option.

The census results also revealed that 0.6 per cent of York residents - 1,062 of respondents - said they did not identify with their gender stated at birth.

Of them, 170 people were trans men, 171 were trans women, and 318 said they were non-binary.

Nationally, 262,000 people said their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth – representing 0.5% of the population.