Indians largest foreign-born group in England and Wales
Thursday, 31/01/2013
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/indians-largest-foreign-born-group-in-england-and-wales/articleshow/18235095.cms
LONDON: Indians have overtaken the Irish to become the largest foreign-born ethnic group in England and Wales.
The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS)'s latest census has revealed that the number of Indians went up by over 52 per cent from 4.56 lakh in 2001 to 6.94 lakh a decade later. In comparison, the number of the Irish dipped to just 4 lakhs in 2011, against 4.7 lakh 10 years back.
The overall foreign-born population increased from 46 lakh to 75 lakh. The highest overall increase has been among Poles, whose numbers increased nearly 10 fold, from 58,000 in 2001 to 5.79 lakh.
OxfordBSE -4.84 % University's Migration Observatory deputy director Scott Blinder described the increase in foreign-born population from 9 per cent to 13 per cent in 2011 as "a very noticeable change" and said the rise in the numbers of Poland and Indian-born people has particularly driven it. "These two countries alone account for more than a quarter of the increase in the size of England and Wales' migrant population."
The ONS data identified 10 countries where migrants are most likely to have been born as India, Poland, Pakistan , Ireland, Germany, Bangladesh , Nigeria, South Africa , US and Jamaica. The number of Pakistan-born people increased by over 56 per cent from 3.08 lakh to 4.8 lakhs. Bangladeshi origin people have increased by 39 per cent to 2.1 lakh. The number of Germans increased by 12 per cent, Nigerians 120 per cent, Americans 23 per cent, South Africans 45 per cent and Jamaicans 10 per cent.
Blinder pointed out that over half of the foreign-born population has arrived in the past 10 years. "By country of birth, the number of people born in the Republic of Ireland has fallen by more than 10 per cent and the population of Nigeria-born people has more than doubled, making the latter the seventh largest group."
He said the distribution of the foreign-born population in 2011 is broadly similar to that of 2001, with the largest group — around 40 per cent — in London.
