Census 2001 - Ethnicity and religion in England and Wales

This release gives information on answers to three Census questions: ethnic group; country of birth and religion. For more detail on the questions, see Background Notes.

 Ethnic Group     Country of birth     Religion     Background Notes

First detailed results on ethnicity and religion from the 2001 Census reveal that 87.5 per cent of the population of England and Wales (seven out of eight people) gave their ethnic group as White British.

The highest proportions describing themselves as White British are in the North East, Wales and the South West (all over 95 per cent).

Ethnic Group (table 1)

Eighty-seven per cent of the population of England and 96 per cent of the population of Wales gave their ethnic origin as White British.

White Irish people make up 1.2 per cent of the population of England and Wales as a whole, with the highest proportion in the London borough of Brent (6.9 per cent of the population). The largest proportions of White Other (that is, not White British or White Irish) people are in central London, particularly the borough of Kensington and Chelsea (25.3 per cent).

London has the highest proportion of people from minority ethnic groups apart from more who identified themselves as of Pakistani origin, of whom there is a higher proportion in Yorkshire and the Humber (2.9 per cent) and the West Midlands (2.9 per cent).

Two per cent of the population of England and Wales are Indian, with Leicester having the highest proportion (25.7 per cent).

Bangladeshis formed 0.5 per cent of the population of England and Wales, with the highest proportion in the London borough of Tower Hamlets (33.4 per cent).

In England and Wales, 1.1 per cent of people are Black Caribbean, 0.9 per cent are Black African and a further 0.2 per cent are from Other Black groups.

Black Caribbeans form more than ten per cent of the population of the London boroughs of Lewisham, Lambeth, Brent and Hackney. Over ten per cent of Southwark, Newham, Lambeth and Hackney are Black African. More than two per cent of people describe themselves as Other Black in Hackney, Lambeth and Lewisham.

Chinese people form more than two per cent of the population in Westminster, Cambridge, City of London and Barnet.

The largest proportions of people of Mixed origin are in London, with the exception of Nottingham, where two per cent of people are Mixed White and Black Caribbean.

Comparisons with the 1991 Census show:

The proportion of minority ethnic groups in England rose from six per cent to nine per cent - partly as a result of the addition of Mixed ethnic groups in 2001.

There were increases in each of the Asian ethnic groups in England and increases in the proportion of Black Caribbean and Black African people. However, the proportion in the Black Other Category fell. Some of these people in 2001 may have ticked Mixed White and Black Caribbean or Mixed White and Black African.

The proportion of Chinese rose from 0.3 per cent in 1991 to 0.4 per cent in 2001.

The numbers of people in Other ethnic groups fell - some people may have classified themselves as Mixed in 2001.

In Wales, there were increases in the proportion of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese people, and 0.6 per cent classified themselves in 2001 as mixed ethnicity.

Country of birth (table 2)

Of people living in England, 87.4 per cent gave their country of birth as England and a further 3.2 per cent of the population came from other parts of the UK. London has the lowest proportion of people born in the UK (72.9 per cent) while the North East has the highest proportion (97.1 per cent).

The highest proportion of people born in the UK are found in Easington and Derwentside, both in County Durham (nearly 99 per cent).

Nearly 97 per cent of the population of Wales were born in the UK, including 75 per cent born in Wales and 20 per cent born in England.

The Welsh authority with the highest proportion born in the UK is Blaenau Gwent (98.9 per cent) which also has the highest proportion born in Wales (92.1 per cent). Flintshire had the highest proportion of people born in England (44.7 per cent). One in 20 (5.5 per cent) of the population of Cardiff were born outside the EU - almost twice as many as any other part of Wales.

In general, the largest proportion of people migrating into England from Scotland and Wales live in the border countries; Welsh-born in Shropshire, Gloucestershire and Cheshire, and Scottish-born in Northumberland and Cumbria.

An exception is Corby in Northamptonshire, were 19 per cent were born in Scotland (and one per cent in Northern Ireland).

Comparisons with the 1991 Census show:

The proportion of English-born people living in England has dropped from 89 per cent to 87 per cent, while the proportion born outside the EU has risen from 5.3 per cent to 6.9 per cent.

In Wales, there was a drop from 77 per cent to 75 per cent in the proportion of Welsh-born people and an increase in people born in England from 19 per cent to 20 per cent.

In Brent, the proportion of people born outside the EU has increased from 31 per cent in 1991 to 38 per cent in 2001. Two other London boroughs have seen large rises in the proportion of people born outside the EU: Newham from 25 per cent in 1991 to 36 per cent and Harrow from 20 per cent to 28 per cent.

In Corby, Northamptonshire, the proportion of people born in Scotland has declined from 22 per cent to 19 per cent.

Religion (table 3)

There are 37.3 million people in England and Wales who state their religion as Christian. The percentage of Christians is similar between the two countries but the proportion of people who follow other religions is 6.0 per cent in England compared with 1.5 per cent in Wales.

In England, 3.1 per cent of the population state their religion as Muslim (0.7 per cent in Wales), making this the most common religion after Christianity.

For other religions, 1.1 per cent in England and 0.2 per cent in Wales are Hindu, 0.7 per cent in England and 0.1 per cent in Wales are Sikh, 0.5 per cent in England and 0.1 per cent in Wales are Jewish and 0.3 per cent in England and 0.2 per cent in Wales are Buddhist.

In England and Wales 7.7 million people state they have no religion (14.6 per cent in England and 18.5 per cent in Wales).

The English region with the highest proportion of Christians is the North East (80.1 per cent). London has the highest proportion of Muslims (8.5 per cent), Hindus (4.1 per cent) Jews (2.1 per cent) Buddhists (0.8 per cent) and people of other religions (0.5 per cent).

Fifty-eight per cent of people in London gave their religion as Christian, with the highest proportion in the borough of Havering (76 per cent). Thirty-six per cent of the population of Tower Hamlets and 24 per cent in Newham are Muslim. Over one per cent of the population of Westminster are Buddhist, while Harrow has the highest proportion of Hindus (19.6 per cent) and Barnet the highest proportion of Jewish people (14.8 per cent). Over eight per cent of the populations of Hounslow and Ealing are Sikh.

Sixteen per cent of the population of London say they have no religion, including 25 per cent in the City of London.

Outside London, the counties with the highest proportion of Christians are Durham, Merseyside and Cumbria, each with 82 per cent or more. The districts with the highest proportions of Christians are all in the North West: St Helens, Wigan and Copeland (Cumbria) each have 86 per cent or more.

The district with the highest proportion of Sikhs is Slough. One person in seven of the population of Leicester is Hindu. One person in nine of the population of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, is Jewish. Over one per cent of the population of Cambridge are Buddhist. Brighton and Hove has most people stating other religions (0.8 per cent).

The districts with the highest proportions of people with no religion are Norwich, Brighton and Hove and Cambridge, all with over one-quarter.

In Wales, the highest proportion of Christians is found on the Isle of Anglesey (79 per cent) and the fewest in Blaenau Gwent (64 per cent). Rhonnda, Cynon, Taff has the highest proportion with no religion (25 per cent). Cardiff has the highest proportion of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews. Ceredigion has the highest proportions of Buddhists and people of other religions.

At the time the Census was carried out, there was an internet campaign that encouraged people to answer the religion question "Jedi Knight". The number of people who stated Jedi was 390,000 (0.7 per cent of the population).

The religion question was voluntary, and 4,011,000 people chose not answer it (7.7 per cent).

Background Notes

1. Census day was 29 April 2001. Census data give a snapshot picture of the country at this time. Population counts by age and sex for England and Wales, Wales, regions of England and English and Welsh local authorities were published on 30 September 2002.

2. The Office for National Statistics is responsible for the census in England and Wales. The Census in Scotland and in Northern Ireland is carried out by the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency respectively. Census data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are released separately.

3. There were three Census questions in 2001 on the topic of ethnicity and religion.
Country of birth. This question asked "What is your country of birth?" with tick box options of: England; Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland; Republic of Ireland and Elsewhere, please write in the present name of the country.
Ethnic Group. This question was similar to the one asked in 1991, but with changes in some categories. In particular, people could tick "mixed" for the first time. It asked "What is your ethnic group? Chose ONE section from A to E, then tick the appropriate box to indicate your cultural background.
A White. Tick box options of: British; Irish or Any other White background (please write in).
B Mixed. Tick box options of: White and Black Caribbean; White and Black African; White and Asian or any other Mixed background (please write in).
C Asian or Asian British. Tick box options of: Indian; Pakistani; Bangladeshi; Any other Asian background (please write in).
D Black or Black British. Tick box options of: Caribbean; African; Any other Black background (please write in).
E Chinese or other ethnic group. Tick box options of: Chinese; Any other (please write in).
Religion. This question was new in 2001 and was voluntary. It asked "What is your religion" with tick box options of: None; Christian; Buddhist; Hindu; Jewish; Muslim; Sikh; Any other religion, please write in.

4. Detailed Census results published today are mainly for England and Wales and its regions and local authorities. Individual press releases are available for Wales and each of the nine English Government Office Regions: North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands, South West, South East, London and the East. Press releases covering six key Census topic areas are also issued today: Ethnicity and religion, Families, Health, Households, People and places, Work. Census data published today are available free on the National Statistics website: www.statistics.gov.uk/census/

5. Further releases of Census data will take place through Spring and Summer 2003. In March/April there will be cross-tabulated data, followed by data down to small area/ward level. In the summer will begin a series of multi-source topic reports which draw upon other sources in addition to census to provide detailed pictures of specific topics and areas.

6. Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available from the press office.

7. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference. Ó Crown copyright 2003.