Ethnic composition of the population in 2001

The 2001 Census of Population provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive picture of the ethnic composition of the UK population. For the first time, people living in Northern Ireland were asked to record their ethnic group. The classification used by the 2001 Census (see Table 1.1) was a revised version of that used in 1991, designed to better represent people of mixed parentage, Irish people and people from Black ethnic groups.

100%

98%

96%

94%

92%

90%

88%

86%

84%

82%

80%

0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85+

()Percent responding to CensusEngland & Wales

males 1991 males 2001 females 1991 females 2001

Age group

Figure 1.5 Percentage responding to the 1991 and 2001Censuses of population

No information is yet available on how successful the 2001 Census was in measuring the minority ethnic group population of the UK. The overall percentage of the population by age group and gender which responded to the Census is presented in Figure 1.5, which contrasts the response rate for 2001 with that for 1991. In 1991, on the basis of their age/sex structure, it was estimated that minority ethnic groups were slightly more likely not to respond than the white population, and that the undercount was most marked for men aged 16-34. A common experience of social surveys is that young Black men are least likely to respond (often because of high levels of residential mobility), but people from South Asian ethnic groups are often more likely than average to respond. However, the response rate declined for all age groups between 1991 and 2001, possibly because of the innovations adopted for the 2001 Census (e.g.

postal return). Nevertheless, given the uncertainty surrounding other population estimates, the Census remains the best estimate of the ethnic composition of the UK population.

The breakdown of the UK population by ethnic group is presented in Table 1.3 and illustrated graphically in Figure 1.6. The total minority population in 2001 was 4.6 million (or 7.9 per cent). The largest category was South Asian people, accounting for 2 million people or 3.5 per cent of the population, half of whom were Indian. There were 1.15 million Black people, with more than half a million Black-Caribbean people. The Black African population has grown very rapidly to be almost as large as the Black Caribbean population, which is much longer established. Many of the children of Black-Caribbean parents are allocated to the Mixed parentage ethnic groups, which contain 677 thousand people, almost as many as the number of people from Chinese and Other ethnic groups.

Ethnic composition of the UK, 2001

Whi

i

i 92.1%

1.2%

3.5%

2.0%

1.2%

7.9%

te Mixed South As an Black Chnese & Other

Figure 1.6 Broad ethnic breakdown of the UK population, 2001

Table 1.3 Ethnic composition of the UK, 2001

-2500000 -2000000 -1500000 -1000000 -500000 0 500000 1000000 1500000 2000000 2500000

Female Male

Figure 1.7 Population pyramid for Great Britain 2001: all ethnic groups

Great Britain 2001: Minority ethnic groups

Figure 1.8 Population pyramid for Great Britain 2001: minority ethnic groups

Overall, females outnumber males, accounting for a larger share of the white population than of the population of people from minority ethnic groups. The female share of the population is greatest for Black people, especially Black-Caribbean people, and smallest in the “Other Asian” (mainly people from South-east Asia), Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups.

On average, women are 1.5 years older than men, with white women being just over 40 on average. In contrast, the mean age of people from minority ethnic groups is about ten years less, with little difference between men and women. Among minority ethnic groups, Black-Caribbean people are oldest on average, followed by Indian, Other Asian and Chinese people.

At the other extreme, the mean age for people of mixed parentage is just over 20, with Pakistani and Bangladeshi people around 24 or 25 on average. The more youthful age structure of minority ethnic groups relative to white people is apparent from a comparison of Figures 1.7 and 1.8. The number of people in each 5-year age group is largest for 30-55 year olds, declining for each younger age group. This reflects the “baby booms” of the late 1940s and 1960s, and the decline in fertility thereafter. In contrast, the shape of the minority pyramid is more triangular, with children outnumbering older people, indicating that population growth will remain rapid well into the 21^st century. However, the number of people of retirement age from both white and minority ethnic groups will increase substantially in the next few decades.

Data on religion was collected by the Census in England and Wales for the first time in 2001 (Table 1.4). Among people who answered the religion question, more than three-quarters declared themselves to be Christian, while 16.1 per cent professed not to have a religion. The largest minority religion was Islam, with more than 1.5 million Muslims enumerated. There were over half a million Hindus, and 329 thousand Sikhs. Overall, 6.3 per cent of those who answered the question had a religion drawn from one of the minority religions identified. Men were more likely than women to report they had no religion, were less likely to be Christian and more likely than women to be Muslim.

Table 1.4 Religious breakdown of England and Wales, 2001 Males Percent with Females Percent with (000s) belief (000s) belief All with religious belief 23297.5 100.0 24733.7 100.0 Religion not stated 2028.4 8.0 1982.3 7.4

ALL PEOPLE 25326.0 26716.0