Geographic Distribution
Minority religions mainly in London
Percentage of each religion living in London, April 2001, GB
People from non-Christian religions are more likely to live in England than in Scotland or Wales. In 2001 they made up 6 per cent of the population in England, compared with only 2 per cent in Wales and 1 per cent in Scotland.
People from Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Sikh backgrounds were concentrated in London and other large urban areas. Christians and those with no religion were more evenly dispersed across the country.
The Jewish population was the most heavily concentrated in London, with 56 per cent of the Jewish population of Great Britain living there. A further 11 per cent lived in the East of England. Almost one in five Jews (17 per cent) lived in the London Borough of Barnet, where they constituted 15 per cent of the population.
Just over half (52 per cent) of Britain's Hindu population lived in London. A further 12 per cent lived in the East Midlands and 10 per cent in the West Midlands, with large populations living in particular pockets within these broad areas. In London, Hindus were concentrated in Brent and Harrow where they made up a fifth of each of these populations (17 per cent and 20 per cent respectively). 7 per cent of Hindus lived in Leicester in the East Midlands, where they comprised 15 per cent of the population.
Around two fifths of Muslims (38 per cent) lived in London. After London, the regions with the next biggest share of the Muslim population were the West Midlands (14 per cent), the North West (13 per cent), and Yorkshire and the Humber (12 per cent). Even within these regions, Muslims were highly concentrated spatially. Muslims made up 8 per cent of London's population overall but 36 per cent of the Tower Hamlets and 24 per cent of the Newham populations.
Almost a third (31 per cent) of the Sikh population lived in the West Midlands. They were particularly concentrated in the Wolverhampton and Sandwell areas: 8 per cent and 7 per cent respectively of the populations of these local authorities were Sikh. A further 31 per cent of the Sikh population lived in London. They were especially concentrated in West London boroughs, making up almost 10 per cent of the populations of Ealing and Hounslow. They also comprised almost 10 per cent of the population of Slough in the South East.
Of the 149,000 Buddhists living in Britain in 2001, 36 per cent lived in London with the rest dispersed across the other regions. The highest concentrations of Buddhists were in the London boroughs of Westminster and Camden where they made up 1 per cent of the local population.
Christians were spread across Britain. London had the lowest proportion of Christians – only 58 per cent of the London population described themselves in this way. People in the North East and the North West were the most likely to describe themselves as Christian with four fifths of people in each of these regions doing so (80 per cent and 78 per cent respectively). People in these regions were the least likely to say they had no religion.
Sources: Census 2001, Office for National Statistics Census 2001, General Register Office for Scotland
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