E-Paper
Indians largest non-white group in UK
According to the map of ethnic and religious diversity they account for 1.8% of population, writes Vijay Dutt.
Indians are the largest non-white ethnic group in Britain, accounting for 1.8 per cent, according to the most detailed map of ethnic and religious diversity, but faith-wise Muslims make up three per cent of the population.
Islam is the second biggest religion after Christianity, no wonder with over 63,000 being white Muslims, that is one in 25 of the total Muslim population.
People of Indian origin number 1.1 million or two per cent of the total population of over 60 million, of these over 40 per cent live in London and 30 per cent in the West and East Midlands.
Among the Indian population 76 per cent own homes in Britain while 66 per cent of whites own homes. In 2001, a third of British Indians came from India, 13 per cent from East Africa and 46 per cent from Britain.
Hindus are the largest religious group, with 45 per cent of the population, followed by Sikhs, with 30 per cent. Most British Indians are aged between 20 and 50 years, with only 7 per cent over 65. British Pakistanis are the second biggest ethnic group, numbering 746,000 in 2001.
In nine out of the 32 London boroughs, less than 50 per cent of the population was white, with the figure falling to 34 per cent in Newham, East London, and lower still in Brent. Overall, the ethnic minority population in 2001 was 4.6 million or 7 per cent of the total population. More than 41 million said they were Christian, with the second biggest group being 8.5 million who claimed no faith. Muslims accounted for 1.5 million, of whom 60,000 were white British Muslims.
Bangladeshis are the largest new minority, numbering 282,000. Mass immigration began in the 1960s but increased after the formation of the state of Bangladesh in 1971. By 2001, 46 per cent of the Bangladeshi community had been born in Britain.
But with 82.2 per cent white Britons and the rest non-whites, it is no surprise that the average citizen in England and Wales has a one in four chance of bumping into someone of different ethnic origin in the street.
The research by the Office of National Statistics also shows that parts of London have the greatest ethnic mix and areas of north-east England the least. This explains why the Queens English is hardly heard in Oxford or Regent Street, and English shoppers are rarely seen. Instead one can hear all other languages spoken there, Urdu, "Ihnglese", Punjabi, Arabic and most European and Caribbean languages.
The report also shows where different groups live - and how Muslim minorities in particular are at a disadvantage. From a sizeable Sikh population (total 330,00) in a Kent town to a Bradford suburb where 73 per cent of people are Pakistani; from atheist Brighton to Leicester's large Indian population, the breakdown provides a fascinating snapshot of 21st-century Britain. In Southall, west London and Handsworth, Sikhs make up more than one in three of the population.
The map marks the first time the country has been analysed not simply in terms of the ethnicity of its population, but also by its religions. It reveals diversity in some areas, and the absence of it in others.
Ethnographers devised a "diversity index" - based on the probability that any two people chosen at random from a particular area would be from different ethnic groups, even if neither of them were white.
In Brent, north London, the chance of doing so was 85 per cent. Just 29 per cent of residents are white British, with Indians, black Caribbean and black Africans all heavily represented. That compares to Easington in Co Durham, where there is a two per cent chance, making it the least diverse place in the country.
Using the same diversity index calculations, the ONS found that the London borough of Harrow was the most religiously diverse, with a more than 60 per cent chance that someone standing next to you will not share the same faith. Mapping also showed that people from the same religions and ethnic groups moved to the same areas.
Thus Indian Hindus tended to live in different regions from Indian Sikhs. In some areas, such as Leicester, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester, three-quarters of the population are non-white and non-Christian, despite the fact that this ethno-religious group accounts for 70 per cent of England and Wales as a whole.
Detailed analysis of ethnic minorities also shows how many are now second, third or fourth generation immigrants. More than half (57 per cent) of black Caribbean were born in the UK, alongside 55 per cent of Pakistanis, 46 per cent of Bangladeshis and 45 per cent of Indians. The report also shows how, outside major cities, many areas remain predominantly white British.
Seven per cent of local authority areas are classed as being "highly ethnically diverse" - based on the idea that there is a more than 50 per cent chance that two random people will be from different backgrounds. Fewer - 3 per cent - are classed as being highly religiously diverse, on the same calculation.
More damning are differences in unemployment, overcrowding and other deprivation indicators. More than 40 per cent of Bangladeshi households are overcrowded, compared with six per cent of white British. One in three Muslim homes have dependent children but no working adults. Black African Muslim men suffer most from the deprivation gap, with rates of unemployment three times higher than white British men.
The new data shows that black African Muslims are also twice as likely as Indian Muslims to be unemployed. In turn, Indian Muslims are far more likely to be jobless than Sikhs or Hindus, suggesting that it is religion, rather than race, that is key.
Dr Jamil Sherif, secretary of the research committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "The issue of unemployment is extremely serious in parts of the Muslim community. There is an urgent need for bold policy initiatives in appropriate skills training and apprentice schemes.
England and Wales ethnicity
* White Britons make up 88.2 per cent of the population.
* 71.8 per cent describe themselves as Christian.
* 14 per cent of white Britons say they have no religion.
* Muslims make up three per cent of the population. Islam is the second biggest religion after Christianity…. 43 per cent Pakistani Muslims, 17 per cent Bangladeshi Muslims, eight percent Indian Muslims and seven per cent other white.
* The Indian population is the largest non-white ethnic group, accounting for 1.8 per cent.
* Pakistani Muslims are the biggest non-white ethno-religious group.
* Black Caribbean account for one per cent of the population.
* More than 60,000 white Britons are Muslims.
* There are 51000 white Buddhists
* Jews number 267,000
* One in three Black Africans was born in Britain.
