Figures quoted in the Senedd
When a Member quotes a figure for something the official statistics measure, such as the NHS waiting list or the employment rate, the official figure for the time is set beside it. We don't judge whether a claim is right: speakers may use a different period, source or rounding.
62 figures quoted on 14 measures.
NHS waiting list
Quoted 16 times. Latest official figure: 714,218 for August 2026. The NHS
These hospitals have been caring for people from all across Wales for decades, and with roughly 700,000 people on NHS waiting lists in Wales, the answer must be to invest in our public health service.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 714,218
More than 540,000 patients are on NHS waiting lists in Wales.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 714,218
The figures that are in my mind are the 709,000 on an NHS waiting list and the 1 million people in Wales who don't have an NHS dentist.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 714,218
I've even got constituents now who have told me, 'No matter how ill I am, no matter the situation, I will not go in an ambulance again to the local A&E department at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.' We've also seen A&E waits increasing from 10,000 in April 2016 to 11,066; waiting lists in Wales increasing to 680,000 different pathways; two-year waits rising to 3,694; and one in three of the sickest emergency department patients in Wales now experiencing corridor care.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 689,721
And there are over 680,000 people now on waiting lists across Wales.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 689,721
We know that NHS waiting lists in Wales under Labour have been far too big and far too long, with the latest figures showing that a little over 666,000 patients are still waiting for their treatment to start.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 689,721
Across Wales, the number of patients on referral-to-treatment waiting lists has soared to around 781,000 pathways, and routine gastro waiting times have exceeded three years in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, creating a backlog and delay in care.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 713,048
Last June, the Cabinet Secretary announced measures to reduce waiting lists by 200,000 by March 2026, which would still leave almost 600,000 on the waiting lists.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 740,954
More than 750,000 people remain on an NHS waiting list, and bed occupancy has remained close to 95 per cent—well above the 85 per cent threshold identified by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine as the point at which safe and elective care begins to break down.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 740,954
There are 700,000 people waiting for treatment; one in five of the population of Wales need to be seen to get their treatment.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 800,395
As of January 2024, over 700,000 patient pathways were waiting to start treatment, with more than 23,000 people waiting over two years for treatment.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 800,395
Wales is now facing a healthcare crisis like no other, with over 800,000 people waiting for treatment, equivalent to one in four of the population.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 802,132
How can we generally have confidence that the First Minister has the grip and the Government have the grip on the waiting-time crisis that Wales is facing, in particular, when there are 614,000 patients waiting on a waiting list, and 800,000 pathways being added to by the day, because hospitals can't keep up with the demand?
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 802,132
Thank you for the word soup, First Minister; I was looking for some real hard and fast targets, because in those 100 days since you’ve become First Minister, there have been an additional 9,000 pathways added to waiting lists here in Wales, there have been nearly 4,000 patients added to the 600,000 patients that are waiting for treatment in Welsh hospitals, and there have been nearly 1,000 patients added to the two-year wait, which you promised would be eliminated at the start of this year.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 802,132
Just to clarify matters of fact first, there aren't 800,000 people on waiting lists in Wales; it is far too high at a little over 600,000, but just for the sake of accuracy, for the record, that is the situation.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 802,132
We know, in the current system, as you mentioned, of the long waiting lists that, unfortunately, are still here in Wales, and we know that that number is around 800,000—the number of people waiting for treatment in Wales.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 802,132
Homeless people in temporary accommodation
Quoted 11 times. Latest official figure: 10,535 for 31 July 2026. Housing
There are currently over 10,000 people in temporary accommodation across Wales, including over 2,000 children.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 10,535
Since the end of March 2026, there are 10,509 individuals living in temporary accommodation, and 2,267 of those are children, dependent children under the age of 16.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 10,282
Your Government published a high-level action plan to end homelessness by 2026, and yet, as of December last year, 10,605 people, including nearly 2,300 children, were in temporary accommodation.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 10,581
Welsh Government figures show that more than 10,900 people are currently living in temporary accommodation across Wales.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 10,605
Let's not forget that we've got 11,000 people in temporary accommodation.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 10,605
We have 11,000 people in temporary accommodation.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 10,605
Lauren's mentioned a few, but 11,000, or around that mark, are still in temporary accommodation.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 10,605
We've now got 140,000 people on social housing waiting lists, and over 11,000 in temporary accommodation.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 11,319
Following on from that, last week, Shelter Cymru published a new report showing that, in 2023-24, the total cost of temporary accommodation in Wales reached £99 million, more than double what it was in 2020-21, highlighting the significant increase in temporary accommodation in Wales, and the human impact of this, with over 11,000 people, including almost 3,000 children, now living in such places.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 11,319
Wales is in a housing emergency, with more than 11,000 people homeless and trapped in temporary accommodation, and almost 140,000 on social housing waiting lists.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 11,323
At the end of May this year, there were 11,384 people in temporary accommodation, a third of whom were children under the age of 16.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 11,323
Pathways waiting more than two years
Quoted 9 times. Latest official figure: 5,068 for August 2026. The NHS
I've even got constituents now who have told me, 'No matter how ill I am, no matter the situation, I will not go in an ambulance again to the local A&E department at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.' We've also seen A&E waits increasing from 10,000 in April 2016 to 11,066; waiting lists in Wales increasing to 680,000 different pathways; two-year waits rising to 3,694; and one in three of the sickest emergency department patients in Wales now experiencing corridor care.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 4,208
So, for those 366 who are waiting for more than two years, ear, nose and throat waits are the highest, and then the others are ophthalmology, oral surgery, dentistry and orthopaedics, but each of those last four have under 50 people waiting in each of them.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 4,517
Of those, 6,800-odd were waiting for more than a year for their first out-patient appointment, and 5,040-odd pathways were waiting over two years.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 4,517
Well, we heard earlier: 10,000 patients waiting 12 or more hours in A&E, more than one in four people in Wales stuck on a waiting list, 7,000 people waiting over two years, and barely half of cancer patients starting their treatment on time.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 5,252
The number of people waiting more than two years is now down to 6,900.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 5,252
So, two-year waits have increased to over 24,000 compared with fewer than 150 in England.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 23,621
As of January 2024, over 700,000 patient pathways were waiting to start treatment, with more than 23,000 people waiting over two years for treatment.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 23,621
Whereas two-year waits in England number a little over 100 people in a population of over 55 million, there are over 24,000 such waits here in Wales.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 23,621
And also you're talking about this on a day when we've just discussed in First Minister's questions the fact that the NHS in Wales is, frankly, on its knees: one in two ambulances not turning up in time, record-breaking waiting lists, 24,000 people waiting over two years for treatment—18 times higher than the rate in England, where it's just 148 people—A&E performance that is unacceptable, and health boards, all of our health boards in Wales, in various places on the scale of escalation.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 23,621
Emergency department waits under four hours
Quoted 4 times. Latest official figure: 63.9% for September 2026. The NHS
According to the latest figures, only 63 per cent of patients spent under four hours in an A&E department in Wales during August.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 63.9%
Turning to accident and emergency waiting times, again we see a slight decrease in the figures, to 64 per cent, of people being seen within four hours.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 64.4%
Almost 70 per cent of patients spend more than four hours in the accident and emergency department, and a third of people who turn up at the hospital's front door spend more than 12 hours in that emergency department without being admitted—while they're waiting to be admitted for a bed or before being discharged.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 64.5%
According to the latest statistics from StatsWales, NHS performance reports for December 2025, over 28 per cent of patients who attended A&E waited more than four hours.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 64.3%
Employment rate
Quoted 4 times. Latest official figure: 73.3% for the year to 30 June 2026. The economy and jobs
The employment rate stands at just 70.8 per cent, almost 4 percentage points below the UK average.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 72.5%
Wales's employment rate has dropped to 70 per cent, the lowest across the United Kingdom, and nearly 5 per cent behind the UK average.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 72.8%
As we've already heard, Wales's unemployment rate has increased for the seventh consecutive month to 5.6 per cent, the highest rate in the United Kingdom, whilst the employment rate has fallen to the lowest rate in the United Kingdom, at only 70 per cent.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 72.8%
Recent Welsh Government statistics reveal an employment rate of just 69 per cent in Wales, compared to the UK average of 75 per cent.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 72.7%
Children in relative poverty
Quoted 4 times. Latest official figure: 32% for the three years to 31 March 2025. Poverty and the cost of living
In a nation with nearly one in three children living in poverty and around one in 10 in deep material deprivation, Reform UK had nothing to say on it.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 32%
And in a nation that has 30 per cent of our children living in poverty, Reform had nothing to say.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 32%
Child poverty still stands at a shameful 31 per cent.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 32%
Just because the targets have been abolished, it does not mean that Members will not scrutinise the Government on its failure to grapple with child poverty, which is running close to 30 per cent in Wales currently.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 30%
Economic inactivity
Quoted 3 times. Latest official figure: 23.7% for the year to 30 June 2026. The economy and jobs
Wales has the worst economic inactivity rate of British nations, sitting at 25 per cent compared to the rest of the UK.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 24.7%
In November Wales's economic inactivity rate stood at a staggering 25.6 per cent—far above the UK average of 21.6 per cent.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 24.7%
Economic inactivity remains high at 26 per cent.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 25.1%
People who say they can speak Welsh
Quoted 3 times. Latest official figure: 27.4% for the year to 30 June 2026. The Welsh language
If I could pursue another element of your portfolio responsibilities, namely the Welsh language, last week, the results of the annual survey by the Office for National Statistics were published, which indicated that only 27.7 per cent of people aged three or older could speak Welsh—the lowest percentage that has been recorded for over eight years.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 27.2%
In the year ending 30 June 2024, 27.8 per cent of people aged three and over are able to speak Welsh, which is the lowest percentage recorded for eight years—the figure in June 2023 was 29.2 per cent.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 27.6%
In the year ending 30 June 2024, 27.8 per cent of people aged three and over are able to speak Welsh, which is the lowest percentage recorded for eight years—the figure in June 2023 was 29.2 per cent.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 27.6%
Productivity
Quoted 2 times. Latest official figure: 84.9 for 2023. The economy and jobs
On productivity, a cornerstone of economic success, Wales is 17 per cent below the UK average, with three of the 10 least productive regions in the UK, and none in the top 10.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 84.9
You may be aware, Minister, that gross value added—a good measure of productivity—has declined steadily from 84.3 per cent in 2004 to 82.7 per cent today, dipping to its lowest amount in 2009, and Wales has languished in one of the bottom four positions for employment rates and weekly earnings for over 20 years.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 84.9
People killed on the roads
Quoted 2 times. Latest official figure: 91 for 2025. Transport
As Jason said, 91 people were killed on Welsh roads in 2025, 9 per cent higher than 2024.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 91
In 2025, 91 people were killed on Welsh roads.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 91
Ambulance response to red calls
Quoted once. Latest official figure: 9 minutes 32 seconds for September 2026. The NHS
Category A ambulance response times are nine minutes and 43 seconds, missing the Government's own eight-minute target.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 9 minutes 20 seconds
Children looked after by councils
Quoted once. Latest official figure: 7,070 for 31 March 2025. Social care
Across Wales, we have more than 7,000 looked-after children, around 4,800 living in foster placement, yet Wales needs 550 new foster carers every year.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 7,070
Young people not in education, employment or training
Quoted once. Latest official figure: 13.7% for 2024. Universities, colleges and skills
Roughly 17 per cent of the 16 to 24-year-old age group are NEET.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 13.7%
Gender pay gap for full-time employees
Quoted once. Latest official figure: 1.9% for 2025. Equality and human rights
Women are three times more likely than men to work part time, three and a half times more likely to be economically inactive, because of caring responsibilities, and face a gender pay gap of 11.8 per cent.
- Official figure for the latest period before that date
- 1.9%