Britain’s trans-formation: Analysis reveals one in 600 teenagers now identify as trans – up seven-fold since 2000

According to a major study, the numbers of transgender teens have skyrocketed since the millennium.

The first analysis of British medical records this century found that transgender identity rates have increased fivefold, with much bigger jumps among young people.

GP data shows that one in 600 16 to 17-year-olds were classified as transgender in 2018, compared to just one in 4,300 in 2000.

Experts suggest the actual figure is likely to be much higher as patients can now self-refer to some clinics without having to go through their GP.

Researchers from University College London studied the medical records of more than 7 million patients in 649 GP practices in the UK, from early 2000 to the end of 2018.

They analyzed the diagnostic codes recorded in de-identified data to track changes over time in the proportion of transgender year-olds aged 10 to 99.

Overall, numbers of transgender identities in Britain have increased fivefold, with the highest increase seen among 16 to 29 year olds.

While in 2000 roughly one in 70,000 people recently identified as transgender, by 2018 this had risen to around 1 in 13,000 people.

But the jump was much bigger among 16-17 year olds, from around one in 4,300 to one in 600, according to the findings published in the BMJ.

Put another way: at the turn of the century, there were virtually no 16-year-olds and 4 per 100,000 17-year-olds coded as transgender in general practices, compared to 78 per 100,000 in 2018.

Similarly, the number of transgender 18-29 year olds rose from around one in 3,700 people to one in 800 over the same period.

Professor Irene Peterson said the increase is “likely to reflect the fact that many people at this age will be seeking advice from their GP about transgender identity for the first time, while people in their 20s may have already had contact with their GP when they were in their teens.”

But campaigners said the rise “coincides with the rise of global trans rights activism” over the same period, aided by tools such as social media.

Stephanie Davies-Arai, founder of Transgender Trend, said: ‘Transgender identification in children and young people was almost unheard of a decade ago. We must ask ourselves what is causing this new phenomenon?

“Transgender lobby groups like Stonewall have directly targeted children through schools and trainings that celebrate transgender identities and present non-scientific ideas about ‘gender identity’ as fact to children.

‘The most vulnerable children are more sensitive to these messages that promise transformation, both social and medical, as the solution to all their problems.

“The increase in numbers coincides with the rise in global trans rights activism over the same period, along with the means to spread widespread social contagion through social media platforms.”

The percentage of people identifying as transgender was more than twice as high in the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas, researchers found.

Last year, independent research by Dr Hilary Cass from the Tavistock Gender Clinic highlighted the over-representation of these patient groups in its interim report.

The researchers acknowledge that their findings rely on coding of transgender identity in general practice clinical records, which may not always have been done accurately or at all.

They also note that it may not include the full range of gender identities or decisions made not to transition or detransition, and may also include terms that are now outdated or often misapplied.

The registration rate of transgender identity in general practice may also have changed since 2018, they add.