Civic engagement
Data on the percentage of people taking part in civic democratic processes in England.
Summary main findings
In the year to March 2021, 41.3% of people in England took part in civic democratic processes, both in person and online, including signing a petition or attending a public rally.
In the 8 years to March 2021, levels of civic engagement were lowest in the year to March 2016, at 33.3%.
Between 2014 and 2021, the percentage of people who took part in civic democratic processes remained broadly the same, at around 40%. There were slight increases following the Brexit referendum and outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is not clear if these events and increases are connected.
By year
Visualisation for by year
Percentage of people who took part in democratic processes in the last 12 months (England, 8 years to March 2021)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data for by year
| Year | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| 2020/21 | 41.3 |
| 2019/20 | 40.7 |
| 2018/19 | 34.4 |
| 2017/18 | 37.8 |
| 2016/17 | 41.1 |
| 2015/16 | 33.3 |
| 2014/15 | 35.4 |
| 2013/14 | 38.6 |
Download for by year
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Community Life Survey
Time period
2014 to 2021
Geographic area
England
What the data measures
The data shows the percentages of adults who took part in civic democratic processes in the 12 months before being surveyed. This means they took part in processes both in person and online, including signing a petition or attending a public rally.
The data does not include voting.
Things you need to know
95% confidence intervals are only available for the 2 financial years to March 2020.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2023 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 1KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Time period
- Age
- Sex
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Unit