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WQ.28/2024
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER
BY DEPUTY M. TADIER OF ST. BRELADE QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2024 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 2024
Question
“Will the Chief Minister –
- provide an estimate of the total number of –
- Portuguese speakers in Jersey, and as a percentage of the Island’s population;
- Portuguese-speaking students in Jersey, and as a percentage of Jersey’s student population; and
- state whether Portuguese is the most commonly-spoken language in Jersey after English?”
Answer (a)
The 2021 Census (‘the Census’) asked about cultural and ethnic identity and 9,739 people (9.4% of Islanders) declared a cultural or ethnic identify of Portuguese or Madeiran. This is the largest cultural and ethnic group after ‘Jersey’ and ‘British’. The Census did not ask about languages, so there is no data on the total number of Portuguese speakers in Jersey.
The Census also identified that 8,280 (8.0%) Islanders were born in Portugal or Maderia; this is the largest group after ‘Jersey’ and the ‘British Isles’. It is probable that Islanders who were born in Portugal or Madeira, or have a cultural and ethnic identity of Portuguese or Madeiran, will be Portuguese speakers.
The 2021 Jersey Children and Young Persons Survey asked students whether they spoke English at home.
The 1,006 young people that said they spoke English at home ‘some of the time’ or ‘hardly ever / never’ were also asked which language they mostly speak at home. Of this group 43% said they spoke Portuguese at home. This represents 10% of all students who responded to the survey.
(b)
There is no definitive information on whether Portuguese is the most commonly spoken language in Jersey after English, but the evidence from the 2021 Census and the Jersey Children and Young Persons Survey would suggest that this is the case.