ONS survey: More gay men in UK than gay women

London had the highest proportion of adults who said they were gay

Twice as many UK men described themselves as gay compared with women in 2012, according to the Office for National Statistics.

A total of 1.5% of men said they were gay while 0.7% of women defined themselves as gay or lesbian.

Those aged 16-24 were most likely to identify themselves as gay or lesbian (2.6%), compared with 0.4% of over 65s.

Overall 1.5% of people said they were gay, lesbian or bisexual.

The ONS said London had the highest proportion of adults who said they were gay, lesbian or bisexual and the East of England reported the lowest.

Richard Lane, spokesman for lesbian, gay and bisexual charity Stonewall, said the accurate number of gay people was likely to be higher because some people felt uncomfortable discussing sexual orientation - but the situation was changing.

"People are happier now in being who they are, which is incredibly positive," he said.

"The visibility and representation of gay people across society is much higher now. We would anticipate that results in people being more open."

More than one in five UK adults are smokers, with those in London and the South East least likely to light up.

Yorkshire and The Humber has a greater proportion of smokers (22.7%) than anywhere else in the UK, the survey of 340,000 people found.

In a separate survey published last week, the ONS found that the unemployed were twice as likely to smoke as those in work.

More than half (54%) of those out of work aged 25-34 were smokers, while 7% of women continued to smoke while pregnant.

Men perceived their health to be better than women, with more than three quarters of adults (76.1%) reporting themselves to be in "good health".