Population of England and Wales by ethnicity
Source: data.gov.uk (2025-08-06)

Population of England and Wales by ethnicity. This data measures the size of the population of England and Wales, and the number and percentage of people from each ethnic group.

Data is taken from the 2021 Census and published on 'Ethnicity facts and figures'.

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Ethnicity facts and figures (https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/)

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Population of England and Wales

Published 22 December 2022

Last updated 21 May 2024 - see all updates (#full-page-history)

Contents
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section (#main-facts-and-figures)
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section (#things-you-need-to-know)
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity (5 groups) section (#by-ethnicity-5-groups)
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity (19 groups) section (#by-ethnicity-19-groups)
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity over time (5 groups) section (#by-ethnicity-over-time-5-groups)
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity over time (19 groups) section (#by-ethnicity-over-time-19-groups)
- 7. Navigate toData sources section (#data-sources)
- 8. Navigate toDownload the data section (#download-the-data)
1. Main facts and figures
- according to the 2021 Census, the total population of England and Wales was 59.6 million, and 81.7% of the population was white
- people from Asian ethnic groups made up the second largest percentage of the population (9.3%), followed by black (4.0%), mixed (2.9%) and other (2.1%) ethnic groups
- out of the 19 ethnic groups, white British people made up the largest percentage of the population (74.4%), followed by people in the white 'other' (6.2%) and Indian (3.1%) ethnic groups
- from 2011 to 2021, the percentage of people in the white British ethnic group went down from 80.5% to 74.4%
- the percentage of people in the white 'other' ethnic group went up from 4.4% to 6.2% – the largest percentage point increase out of all ethnic groups
- the number of people who identified as ‘any other ethnic background’ went up from 333,100 to 923,800
Related content
- Regional ethnic diversity (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/regional-ethnic-diversity/latest)
- Age groups (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/age-groups/latest)
- Male and female populations (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/male-and-female-populations/latest)
- People born outside the UK (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/people-born-outside-the-uk/latest)
- Working age population (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/working-age-population/latest)
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.

Counts are based on the category selected only, there have been no adjustments for write-in responses. As a result the counts may differ from some Census estimates.

Census data includes 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 2021 Census (https://www.ons.gov.uk/census).

Not included in the data

The data does not include households that did not answer the question about ethnicity.

97% of people completed the 2021 Census.

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 19 ethnic groups (https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/ethnic-groups) that were developed for the 2021 Census.

The ethnic groups used in the 2021 Census were slightly different from the 2011 Census ethnic groups (https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/ethnic-groups#2011-census).

There were 2 changes in 2021 – the ‘Roma’ group was added under the ‘white’ ethnic group, and people could write their own response under the ‘black African’ ethnic group.

As a result, figures for the white other and black African and black other ethnic groups may not be directly comparable for 2011 and 2021, although the groups concerned account for very low percentages of the overall population.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/methodologies/qualityandmethodologyinformationqmiforcensus2021) for this data.

You can find confidence intervals for the data in the interactive tools showing the quality and quality assurance (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/methodologies/measuresshowingthequalityofcensus2021estimates).

3. By ethnicity (5 groups)

Location: England and Wales Time period: 2021 Source: England and Wales 2021 Census (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021)

Population of England and Wales (5 groups) Ethnicity % Number Asian 9.3 5,515,455 Black 4.0 2,409,283 Mixed 2.9 1,717,977 White 81.7 48,699,231 Other 2.1 1,255,632

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (5 groups)’ (CSV) (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/downloads/by-ethnicity-5-groups-table.csv) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (5 groups)’ (CSV) (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/downloads/by-ethnicity-5-groups.csv)

4. By ethnicity (19 groups)

Location: England and Wales Time period: 2021 Source: England and Wales 2021 Census (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021)

Population of England and Wales by ethnicity Ethnicity % Number Asian Bangladeshi 1.xx-xxxx-xxxx,900 Chinese 0.7 445,646 Indian 3.1 1,864,304 Pakistani 2.7 1,587,822 Asian other xx-xxxx-xxxx,783 Black Black African 2.5 1,488,387 Black Caribbean 1.0 623,115 Black other 0.5 297,781 Mixed Mixed White/Asian 0.8 488,228 Mixed White/Black African 0.4 249,593 Mixed White/Black Caribbean 0.9 513,040 Mixed other 0.8 467,116 White Gypsy Or Irish Traveller 0.1 67,757 Roma 0.2 100,964 White British 74.4 44,355,044 White Irish 0.9 507,473 White other 6.2 3,667,993 Other Arab 0.6 331,856 Any Other xx-xxxx-xxxx,776

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (19 groups)’ (CSV) (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/downloads/by-ethnicity-19-groups-table.csv) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (19 groups)’ (CSV) (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/downloads/by-ethnicity-19-groups.csv)

Summary of Population of England and Wales By ethnicity (19 groups) Summary

The 2021 Census data shows that:
- the total population of England and Wales was 59.6 million
- 48.7 million people (81.7%) were from white ethnic groups – 44.4 million of those identified with the white British group (74.4% of the population) and 3.7 million with the white 'other' ethnic group (6.2%)
- 5.5 million people (9.3%) were from Asian ethnic groups – 1.9 million of those identified with the Indian ethnic group (3.1%), and 1.6 million with the Pakistani ethnic group (2.7%)
- 2.4 million people (4.0%) were from black ethnic groups – 1.5 million of those identified with the black African ethnic group (2.5%), and 0.6 million with the black Caribbean ethnic group (1.0%)
- 1.7 million people (2.9%) had mixed ethnicity – 0.5 million of those identified with the mixed white and black Caribbean ethnic group (0.9%), and 0.5 million with the mixed white and Asian ethnic group (0.8%)
- 1.3 million people (2.1%) belonged to other ethnic groups – 0.9 million of those identified with the ‘any other’ ethnic group (1.6%), and 0.3 million with the Arab ethnic group (0.6%)
5. By ethnicity over time (5 groups)

Location: England and Wales Time period: 2001 to 2021 Source: England and Wales 2021 Census (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021)

Population of England and Wales by ethnicity over time (5 groups) Ethnicity % 2021 % 2011 % 2001 Asian 9.3 7.5 4.4 Black 4.0 3.3 2.2 Mixed 2.9 2.2 1.3 White 81.7 86.0 91.3 Other 2.1 1.0 0.9

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time (5 groups)’ (CSV) (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/downloads/by-ethnicity-over-time-5-groups-table.csv) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time (5 groups)’ (CSV) (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/downloads/by-ethnicity-over-time-5-groups.csv)

6. By ethnicity over time (19 groups)

Location: England and Wales Time period: 2001 to 2021 Source: England and Wales 2021 Census (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021)

Population of England and Wales by ethnicity over time (19 groups) Ethnicity % 2021 % 2011 % 2001 Asian Bangladeshi 1.1 0.8 0.5 Chinese 0.7 0.7 0.4 Indian 3.1 2.5 2.0 Pakistani 2.7 2.0 1.4 Asian other 1.6 1.5 0.5 Black Black African 2.5 1.8 0.9 Black Caribbean 1.0 1.1 1.1 Black other 0.5 0.5 0.2 Mixed Mixed White/Asian 0.8 0.6 0.4 Mixed White/Black African xx-xxxx-xxxx Mixed White/Black Caribbean 0.9 0.8 0.5 Mixed other 0.8 0.5 0.3 White White British 74.4 80.5 87.5 White Irish 0.9 0.9 1.2 Gypsy Or Irish Traveller 0.1 0.1 N/A* Roma 0.2 N/A* N/A* White other 6.2 4.4 2.6 Other Arab 0.6 0.4 N/A* Any Other 1.6 0.6 0.4

* Not applicable

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time (19 groups)’ (CSV) (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/downloads/by-ethnicity-over-time-19-groups-table.csv) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time (19 groups)’ (CSV) (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest/downloads/by-ethnicity-over-time-19-groups.csv)

Summary of Population of England and Wales By ethnicity over time (19 groups) Summary

Census data for England and Wales shows that, from 2001 to 2021:
- the percentage of people in the white British ethnic group went down from 87.5% to 74.4%
- the percentage of people in the white Irish ethnic group also went down, from 1.2% to 0.9%
- the percentage of people in the white 'other' ethnic group went up from 2.6% to 6.2%, the biggest percentage point increase out of all ethnic groups – this group includes people born in Poland, the second largest group of residents born outside the UK (743,100) behind people born in India (920,400)
- the number of people who identified as ‘any other ethnic background’ went up from 219,800 to 923,800
7. Data sources

Source

England and Wales 2021 Census (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021)

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Office for National Statistics

Publication frequency

10 years

Purpose of data source

The Census takes place every 10 years. 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 can help illustrate differences between various groups in the population.

8. Download the data

This file contains the following variables: Measure, Source, Time, Geography, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Value, Value_type, Numerator, Denominator

Publication release date: 22 December 2022

Updated: 21 May 2024
- 21 May 2024 (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/2.2) The page has been reformatted to separate the aggregated ethnic groups from the specific ethnic groups.
- 4 April 2023 (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/2.1) Reordered table for section 4, where the Black Caribbean group were showing underneath the White groups, instead of under the Black groups
- 22 December 2022 (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/2.0) Updated with the latest available data, from the 2021 Census.
From: Office for National Statistics
- Edition published on 14 May 2019 (/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/1.4)
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