THE number of people who can speak Welsh fluently has fallen by nearly 7,000 during the last decade.

The survey showed that 11 per cent (310,600) of all people aged three and over living in Wales could speak Welsh fluently compared with 12 per cent (317,300) in 2004-06.

Close to half (46 per cent) of all Welsh speakers (310,600) considered themselves fluent in Welsh, and 22 per cent (148,900) could speak a fair amount of Welsh. In 2004-06 the corresponding figures were 58 per cent (317,300) fluent and 21 per cent (115,300) could speak a fair amount.

However, 353,000 (13 per cent) of all people aged three and over spoke Welsh daily, compared with 342,000 (again 13 per cent) in the 2004-06 surveys.

Just over half of people who could speak Welsh spoke it daily; 1 in 5 spoke it weekly; fewer than 1 in 4 spoke it less often than weekly, and 1 in 20 people who could speak Welsh never speak it.

At home 20 per cent of Welsh speakers always (or almost always) spoke Welsh. This proportion increased steadily with age.