1. Main facts and figures
- according to the 2011 Census, the total population of England and Wales was 56.1 million, and 86.0% of the population was White
- people from Asian ethnic groups made up the second largest percentage of the population (at 7.5%), followed by Black ethnic groups (at 3.3%), Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups (at 2.2%) and Other ethnic groups (at 1.0%)
- among the specific ethnic groups, people from the White British ethnic group made up the largest percentage of the population (at 80.5%), followed by Other White (4.4%) and Indian (2.5%)
- from 2001 to 2011, the percentage of the population of England and Wales that was White British decreased from 87.4% to 80.5%, while the Other White group saw the largest increase in their share of the population, from 2.6% to 4.4%
- the percentage of the population from a Black African background doubled from 0.9% in 2001 to 1.8% in 2011
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
This data measures the size of the population of England and Wales, and the number and percentage of people from each ethnic group.
Census data covers people in around 25 million private households. It also includes communal establishments, such as care homes and university halls of residence.
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.
Read more about the 2011 Census.
Not included in the data
The data does not include households that did not answer the question about ethnicity.
94% of households completed the 2011 Census. Of those, 97% answered the question about ethnicity.
The data has been adjusted to take into account people and households who were not counted or counted incorrectly.
The ethnic groups used in the data
This data uses the standardised list of 18 ethnic groups that were developed for the 2011 Census.
The ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census were slightly different from the 2001 Census ethnic groups.
There were 2 ethnic groups added in 2011 – Gypsy and Roma in the White category, and Arab in the Other category. The Chinese ethnic group was moved from the Other category to the Asian category.
As a result, figures for the White, Other and Asian ethnic groups are not directly comparable for 2001 and 2011, although the groups concerned account for very low percentages of the overall population.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
You can find confidence intervals for the data in the ONS archive.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Number | % |
|---|---|---|
| All | 56,075,912 | 100.0 |
| Asian | 4,213,531 | 7.5 |
| Bangladeshi | 447,201 | 0.8 |
| Chinese | 393,141 | 0.7 |
| Indian | 1,412,958 | 2.5 |
| Pakistani | 1,124,511 | 2.0 |
| Asian other | 835,720 | 1.5 |
| Black | 1,864,890 | 3.3 |
| Black African | 989,628 | 1.8 |
| Black Caribbean | 594,825 | 1.1 |
| Black other | 280,437 | 0.5 |
| Mixed | 1,224,400 | 2.2 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 341,727 | 0.6 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 165,974 | 0.3 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 426,715 | 0.8 |
| Mixed other | 289,984 | 0.5 |
| White | 48,209,395 | 86.0 |
| White British | 45,134,686 | 80.5 |
| White Irish | 531,087 | 0.9 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | 57,680 | 0.1 |
| White other | 2,485,942 | 4.4 |
| Other | 563,696 | 1.0 |
| Arab | 230,600 | 0.4 |
| Any other | 333,096 | 0.6 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Population of England and Wales By ethnicity Summary
The 2011 Census data shows that:
- the total population of England and Wales was 56.1 million
- 48.2 million people (86.0%) were from White ethnic groups, with 45.1 million of those identifying with the White British group (80.5% of the population) and 2.5 million with the Other White ethnic group (4.4%)
- 4.2 million people (7.5%) were from Asian ethnic groups, with 1.4 million of those identifying with the Indian ethnic group (2.5%), and 1.1 million with the Pakistani ethnic group (2.0%)
- 1.9 million people (3.3%) were from Black ethnic groups, with just under 1 million of those identifying with the Black African ethnic group (1.8%), and 0.6 million with the Black Caribbean ethnic group (1.1%)
- 1.2 million people (2.2%) had Mixed ethnicity, with 0.4 million of those identifying with the Mixed White/Black Caribbean group (0.8%), and 0.3 million with the Mixed White and Asian group (0.6%)
- 0.6 million people (1.0%) belonged to other ethnic groups
4. By ethnicity over time
| Ethnicity | 2001 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Asian | ||
| Bangladeshi | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Chinese | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| Indian | 2.0 | 2.5 |
| Pakistani | 1.4 | 2.0 |
| Asian other | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Black | ||
| Black African | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Black Caribbean | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Black other | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Mixed | ||
| Mixed White/Asian | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Mixed other | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| White | ||
| White British | 87.4 | 80.5 |
| White Irish | 1.2 | 0.9 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | N/A* | 0.1 |
| White other | 2.6 | 4.4 |
| Other | ||
| Arab | N/A* | 0.4 |
| Any other | 0.4 | 0.6 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Population of England and Wales By ethnicity over time Summary
Census data shows that:
- from 2001 to 2011, the percentage of the population of England and Wales that identified as White British decreased from 87.4% to 80.5%
- other ethnic groups whose percentage of the population decreased were White Irish (from 1.2% to 0.9%), and Mixed White and Black African (from 0.4% to 0.3%)
- the Other White group saw the largest increase in their share of the population, from 2.6% to 4.4% – this group includes people born in Poland, who became the second largest group of residents born outside the UK (579,000) behind people born in India (694,000)
- the percentage of the population from a Black African background doubled from 0.9% in 2001 to 1.8% in 2011
5. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Publication frequency
Every 10 years
Purpose of data source
The Census is carried out every 10 years. Data from the March 2021 Census will not be available until 2022, so 2011 Census data is used instead.
Census data gives the government the information it needs to plan and run public services. It is also used as a benchmark for other statistical estimates, and it can help illustrate differences between various groups in the population.
6. Download the data
This file contains: Measure, Time, Ethnicity, Value, Value note, Source, Geography