Estimates for the number of people who describe themselves as transgender vary significantly, but number in the hundreds of thousands in the UK. A much smaller proportion actively use medication or have undergone surgery as part of living as a transgender person.

Globally the prevalence of self-reported transgender identity was between 355 to 871 people per 100,000 population (about 0.4-0.9 per cent), according to a meta-analysis of 27 studies in 2016. However, the overall prevalence for people who use hormonal gender affirmation therapy or have undertaken surgical procedures was much lower at 9.2 per 100,000 (0.009 per cent).¹

In 2018, the UK government “tentatively” said the number of people identifying as trans in the UK was between 200,000 to 500,000, while the charity Stonewall suggests the figure might be 600,000. This compares to around 11,000 people in the UK estimated to be receiving NHS treatment for gender dysphoria in 2021.^2,3,4

Demand clearly exceeds NHS capacity. One of the UK’s 16 NHS gender identity clinics (GICs) and services, the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust, receives around 350 referrals each month. With 10,981 people on its four-year waiting list in January 2022, only 38 out of 962 appointments that month (under Covid restrictions) were first appointments.^5,6