Official Statistics

Community and Engagement Survey 2025/26 - civic engagement: report

Updated 14 August 2026

Applies to England

This report summarises the key findings in the Community and Engagement Survey (CES) for civic engagement for 2025/26.^{[footnote 1]} Reports for other sections within the CES are available on the annual web page. 

The CES asks respondents if they took part in civic participation, civic consultation, and civic activism over the last 12 months. This report focuses on civic engagement which is the involvement in any civic participation, consultation, or activism, at least once in the last 12 months. 

• Civic participation is defined as engagement in democratic processes, both in person and online, including contacting a local official (such as a local councillor or MP), signing a petition, or attending a public rally (excludes voting).
• Civic consultation is defined as taking part in a consultation about local services or problems in the local area through completing a questionnaire, attending a public meeting or being involved in a face-to-face or online group. 
• Civic activism is defined as involvement in local community roles such as being a local councillor, school governor, volunteer special constable or magistrate (for those aged 18 or over). Civic activism also includes involvement, either in person or online, in decision making groups in the local area. Examples of this are a tenants’ association, groups making decisions about local health or education services, or groups set up to either regenerate a local area or address issues such as crime.

The CES is representative of people aged 16 and over in England. For simplicity, we will sometimes refer just to “people” in our reporting.

For information on how to use and interpret these statistics see the note available on the supplementary documents page.^{[footnote 2]}

1. Key findings

1.1 Headline

46% of people aged 16+ had engaged in civic participation, civic consultation, or civic activism at least once in the last 12 months, a 5 percentage point increase from 2024/25 (41%).

By local authority, there was a 44 percentage point difference in the proportion of people who have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, from 61% in Camden to 17% in the City of London. If the City of London is excluded, there was a 27 percentage point difference, from 61% in Camden to 34% in Rochdale.

38% of people aged 16+ engaged in some form of civic participation at least once in the last 12 months, a 4 percentage point increase from 2024/25 (34%).

20% of people aged 16+ engaged in some form of civic consultation at least once in the last 12 months, a 1 percentage point increase from 2024/25 (19%).

9% of people aged 16+ engaged in some form of civic activism at least once in the last 12 months, a 1 percentage point increase from 2024/25 (8%).

1.2 Time series

As shown in Figure 1, rates of civic engagement have varied between 41% and 48% since 2018/19 when this derived measure was first reported in the survey publications. Civic engagement has slowly increased over the past two years, from 41% in 2023/24 to 46% in 2025/26. 

Note: There are considerable changes in the confidence intervals between each year due to the sample size of the survey. Where the sample has been boosted, the confidence intervals will narrow to reflect higher confidence in the estimates.

Figure 1: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, England: 2018/19 to 2025/26 (Base: All adults)

2. Demographics: Who is taking part in civic engagement

Demographic questions in the survey are voluntary and self-reported by the respondent.

2.1 Age

As shown in Figure 2, people aged 16 to 24 (35%), 25 to 34 (44%) and 75 and over (43%) were less likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months compared with the average for people in England (46%). People aged 35 to 49 (49%), 50 to 64 (50%) and 65 to 74 (51%) were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months compared with the average for people in England (46%). 

Figure 2: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by age, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.2 Disability status

As shown in Figure 3, disabled people (50%) were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months than non-disabled people (46%).

Figure 3: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by disability status, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.3 Sex^{[footnote 3]}

As shown in Figure 4, females (47%) were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months than males (46%).

Figure 4: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by sex, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.4 Gender identity^{[footnote 4]}

As shown in Figure 5, people whose gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth (69%) were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months than those whose gender identity was the same as their sex registered at birth (46%).

Figure 5: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by gender identity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.5 Sexual orientation^{[footnote 5]}

As shown in Figure 6, bisexual people (63%) and people from the “Other sexual orientation” classification (64%) were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months than heterosexual or straight people (46%) and gay or lesbian people (58%). 

Figure 6: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by sexual orientation, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.6 Religion

As shown in Figure 7, Christian people (47%), Buddhist people (55%), people from the Any other religion category (63%) and Jewish people (67%) were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months compared with the average for people in England (46%). Sikh people (37%), Hindu people (41%), and Muslim people (43%) were less likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement compared with the average for people in England (46%). 

Figure 7: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by religion, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.7 Ethnicity

As shown in Figure 8, people from the White British^{[footnote 6]} (47%), Any other White background (49%), Any other ethnic group (50%), Any other mixed or multiple ethnic background (54%), White Irish (54%), and Gypsy or Irish Traveller (64%) ethnic groups were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months compared with the average for people in England (46%). People from the Indian (41%), Pakistani (41%), Any other Asian background (41%) and White and Black Caribbean (41%) ethnic groups were less likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement compared with the average for people in England (46%). 

Figure 8: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by ethnicity, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.8 Socio-economic classification^{[footnote 7]}

As shown in Figure 9, people from the higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations classification (55%) were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months compared to people from the routine and manual occupations classification (39%), people from the never worked and long-term unemployed classification (39%), and people from intermediate occupations classification (49%).

Figure 9: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by socio-economic classification, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

2.9 Index of multiple deprivation^{[footnote 8]}

As shown in Figure 10, people living in the least deprived areas (10th decile, 49%) were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months compared to people living in the most deprived areas (1st decile, 41%). 

Figure 10: Percentage of people taking part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by Index of Multiple Deprivation, England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

3. Civic engagement by local authority area and ITL1 area

3.1 Regional differences^{[footnote 9]}

As shown in Figure 11, compared with the average for people in England (46%), people living in the South East (48%), South West (49%), and London (50%) ITL1 areas were more likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months. People living in the North East (40%), West Midlands (43%), Yorkshire and the Humber (43%), East Midlands (44%), and North West (44%) ITL1 areas were less likely to have taken part in some form of civic engagement compared to the average for people in England (46%).

3.2 Local authority differences^{[footnote 10]}

By local authority, there was a 44 percentage point difference in the proportion of people who have taken part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, from 61% in Camden to 17% in the City of London. 

If the City of London is excluded, there was a 27 percentage point difference, from 61% in Camden to 34% in Rochdale^{[footnote 11]}.

The proportion of people who have taken part in some form of civic engagement was in line with the England average in 187 (63%) local authorities, higher than the England average in 54 (18%) local authorities, and lower than the England average in 54 (18%) local authorities.

Figure 11: People who took part in some form of civic engagement at least once in the last 12 months, by ITL1 area and local authority: England: 2025/26 (Base: All people aged 16 and over)

1. Questions within the Community pathway of the Community and Engagement Survey were asked to respondents from October 2025 to March 2026 only. ↩

2. The majority of estimates in this report are rounded to the nearest whole number. As data are rounded, some changes may appear bigger or smaller than they are. The unrounded numbers are available in the corresponding data tables.  ↩

3. This data is based on the respondent’s sex. The Community and Engagement Survey respondents were asked the question “What is your sex?”. The response options were ‘Male’, ‘Female’ and ‘Prefer not to Say’. This closely follows the ONS Census 2021 question for sex, where the target concept was certificated sex meaning a person’s sex at birth or as modified by a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), but has been slightly amended to include a ‘Prefer not to Say’ option as we do for all demographic questions in the Community and Engagement Survey. ↩

4. This data is based on the respondent’s gender identity. The Community and Engagement Survey respondents were asked the question ‘Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?. The response options were ‘Yes’, ‘No, type in gender identity’ or ‘Prefer not to say’. This closely follows the ONS Census 2021 question for England and Wales, but has been slightly amended to include a ‘Prefer not to Say’ option as we do for all demographic questions in the Community and Engagement Survey. It should be noted that in the Census 2021 data for England and Wales, patterns were identified that suggest that some respondents may not have interpreted the question as intended, notably those with lower levels of English language proficiency. Analysis of Scotland’s Census 2022, where the gender identity question was different, has added weight to this observation. More information can be found in the ONS sexual orientation and gender identity quality information report and the additional guidance and quality information for users of gender identity estimates from Census 2021 in England and Wales. Similar respondent error may have occurred during the data collection for these statistics so comparisons between subnational and other smaller group breakdowns should be considered with caution. ↩

5. Sexual orientation is an umbrella term covering sexual identity, attraction, and behaviour. For an individual respondent, these may not be the same. For example, someone in an opposite-sex relationship may also experience same-sex attraction, and vice versa. This means the statistics should be interpreted purely as showing how people responded to the question, rather than being about whom they are attracted to or their actual relationships. ↩

6. The White British ethnic group includes adults from an English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British ethnic group. ↩

7. This is a form of socio-economic classification based on the employment status and occupation of the respondent. ↩

8. The Index of Multiple Deprivation is a geographical measure which classifies the relative deprivation of an area. It combines seven indices to produce one overall measure for the area (rather than the individual). It takes into account income, employment, education, skills and training, health and disability, crime, barriers to housing and services, and living environment. For this commentary, the most and least deprived deciles have been compared. There may be some other significant differences between deciles in between which have not been commented on here. The analysis of the index of Multiple Deprivation was conducted using the 2025 Index of Multiple Deprivation. ↩

9. This data is also available by combined authority level and ITL2 area level in the corresponding data tables. ↩

10. The 2025/26 Community and Engagement Survey includes over 175,000 responses, so confidence intervals are generally very narrow. Whilst this reflects a strength of the data, when highlighting differences, some local authorities may be shown to be above/below the England average, but are only a percentage point more or less than the average. There will be other local authorities who are much higher or lower than the England average, but will both be shown in the same shading within the map. ↩

11. We have noted these where removing one single local authority makes a substantial difference to the reported range. ↩