Country of Birth & National Identity
Majority identify as British
Proportion of people who consider their identity to be British, English, Scottish or Welsh: by religion, 2004, GB
Identity
In every religious group the majority of people in Great Britain described their national identity as either British, English, Scottish or Welsh. Around 95 per cent of Christians and those with no religion described themselves in this way. Seventy eight per cent of Sikhs, 70 per cent of Muslims and 69 per cent of Hindus gave one of these British identities.
National identity is strongly related to country of birth. People from all religious groups who were born in the UK were more likely than their foreign-born counterparts to give a British identity. Almost all (99 per cent) UK-born Jews, Christians and people with no religion had a British national identity. Nine out of ten UK-born Buddhists (93 per cent), Sikhs (93 per cent), Muslims (91 per cent) and Hindus (89 per cent) gave a British national identity.
More than half of Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu adults living in England and Wales in 2001 said that their religion was important to their self-identity. Among Christians, only a fifth mentioned religion as important, although this was much higher among Black Christians. After religion and ethnicity, being aged over 50 and being born outside the UK were also associated with rating religion as important to self-identity.
Religion: by country of birth, April 2001, GB
Country of birth
Hindus are the least likely of all the religious groups to have been born in the UK, followed by Muslims and Buddhists. The majority within each of these groups had been born outside the UK.
Less than four in ten Hindus (37 per cent) who were living in Great Britain in 2001 had been born in the UK. A similar proportion had been born in Asia (39 per cent), predominantly India (30 per cent), and 6 per cent had been born in Sri Lanka. A further 21 per cent of Hindus had been born in Africa, reflecting the 1970s migration to the UK of East African Asians, in particular from Kenya (10 per cent) and Uganda (4 per cent).
Just under half (46 per cent) of Muslims living in Great Britain in 2001 had been born in the UK, while 39 per cent had been born in Asia – mainly Pakistan (18 per cent), Bangladesh (9 per cent) and India (3 per cent). A further one in ten Muslims (9 per cent) had been born in Africa, including Somalia (2 per cent) and Kenya (1 per cent). Four per cent of Muslims were from parts of Europe outside the UK, including Turkey (3 per cent) and the former Yugoslavian countries (1 per cent).
Just under half of Buddhists (45 per cent) living in Great Britain in 2001 had been born in the UK. A slightly higher proportion (49 per cent) had been born in Asia: Thailand (8 per cent), Japan (8 per cent), Vietnam (7 per cent), Hong Kong (6 per cent), Malaysia (6 per cent) and China (3 per cent).
Sikhs are the most likely of all the Asian religions to have been born in the UK. Over half (56 per cent) of the Sikh community in 2001 had been born in the UK. Thirty seven per cent had been born in Asia, predominantly India (35 per cent), and 6 per cent had been born in Africa, mainly Kenya (4 per cent).
The majority of Jewish people (83 per cent) had been born in the UK but 6 per cent had been born in another European country, reflecting migration from Germany and eastern Europe in the period before the Second World War. A further 3 per cent had been born in Israel, 2 per cent had been born in South Africa and 2 per cent in the USA.
Almost all of the Christian group (94 per cent) were born in the UK. Three per cent were born in another European country, including Ireland (1 per cent), and 1 per cent were born in each of Africa, Asia and North America. The countries of birth for people with no religion were very similar to those for the Christian group.
Sources: Country of birth: Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics and General Register Office for Scotland National identity: Annual Population Survey, January 2004 to December 2004, Office for National Statistics Religious identity: Home Office Citizenship Survey 2001, Home Office
Notes: Former Yugoslavian countries mentioned here include Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia or Yugoslavia.
The importance of religion to self-identity was measured by the question: 'Suppose you were describing yourself, which of the things on this card would say something important about you?' Figures represent the percentage of people who included religion in their answer.
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