British Asians

For subgroupings of British people of Asian descent, see Central Asians in the United Kingdom, East Asians in the United Kingdom, South Asians in the United Kingdom, and Southeast Asians in the United Kingdom.
For British Asians from East or Southeast Asia, also known as the "Far East", see British East and Southeast Asian.
British Asians
Asian/Asian British population percentage across the United Kingdom in 2011
Total population
United Kingdom United Kingdom: 5,758,104 – 8.6% (2021/22 Census)[a][1][2][3]
  • Indian – 1,927,150 – 2.9% (2021/22)
  • Pakistani – 1,662,286 – 2.5% (2021/22)
  • Bangladeshi – 651,834 – 1.0% (2021/22)[b]
  • Chinese – 502,216 – 0.8% (2021/22)
  • Other Asian – 1,010,209 – 1.5% (2021/22)
Regions with significant populations
 England5,426,392 – 9.7% (2021)
 Scotland212,022 – 3.9% (2022)
 Wales89,028 – 3.0% (2021)
Northern Ireland30,667 – 1.6% (2021)
Languages
British English · Asian languages
Bengali · Burmese · Cantonese · Gujarati · Hakka · Hindi · Tamil · Haryanvi · Mandarin · Min · Punjabi · Tagalog · Sindhi · Sinhala · Sylheti · Vietnamese · Thai · Urdu
Religion
Predominantly Islam (46.0%) and Hinduism (17.5%); minority follows Christianity (10.5%), Sikhism (7.7%), other faiths (3.9%)[c] or are irreligious (9.1%)
2021 census, NI, England and Wales only[5][6]
Related ethnic groups

British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons)[7] are British people of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6% of the population identifying as Asian or Asian British in the 2021 United Kingdom census.[8][2][3] This represented an increase from a 6.9% share of the UK population in 2011, and a 4.4% share in 2001.

Represented predominantly by South Asian ethnic groups, census data regarding birthplace and ethnicity demonstrate around a million Asian British people derive their ancestry between East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia.[9] Since the 2001 census, British people of general Asian descent have been included in the "Asian/Asian British" grouping ("Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British" grouping in Scotland) of the UK census questionnaires.[10] Categories for British Indians, British Pakistanis, British Bangladeshis, British Chinese, British Hongkongers and other Asians have existed under an Asian British heading since the 2011 census.[11] In British English usage, especially in less formal contexts, the term "Asian" usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent or South Asia, contrary to other Anglosphere countries such as Australia and the United States, where the term "Asian" usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to the Far East (East, North and Southeast Asia).[citation needed]

There is a long history of migration to the United Kingdom (and its predecessor states) from across Asia. British colonies and protectorates throughout Asia brought lascars (sailors and militiamen) to port cities in Britain. Immigration of small numbers of South Asians to England began with the arrival of the East India Company to the Indian subcontinent, and the decline of the Mughal Empire, at the end of the 16th century. Between the 17th and mid-19th century, increasingly diverse lascar crews heading for Britain imported East Asians, such as Japanese and Chinese seamen, Southeast Asians, such as Malays, South Asians such as the Indians (including the people from Pakistan), Bengalis and Ceylonese and post-Suez Canal; West Asians, such as Armenians and Yemenis, who settled throughout the United Kingdom.

In particular, Indians also came to Britain for educational or economic reasons during the British Raj (with most returning to India after a few months or years)[12] and in greater numbers as the Indian independence movement led to the partition of 1947, eventually creating the separate countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The most significant wave of Asian immigration to and settlement in the United Kingdom came following the Second World War with the resumed control of Hong Kong, the breakup of the British Empire and the independence of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and later Bangladesh, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. An influx of Asian immigrants also took place following the expulsion or flight of Indian communities (then holders of British passports) from the newly-independent Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in the early 1970s.

Since the 2010s, British Asians have achieved positions of high political office; Sadiq Khan (of Pakistani descent) became Mayor of London in 2016, Rishi Sunak (of Indian descent) became the first British Asian Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in October 2022 and Humza Yousaf (also of Pakistani descent) became First Minister of Scotland in March 2023.


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  1. ^ "Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion - Chart data". Scotland's Census. National Records of Scotland. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024. Alternative URL 'Search data by location' > 'All of Scotland' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Ethnic Group'
  3. ^ a b "MS-B01: Ethnic group". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 22 September 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2011census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ United Kingdom census (2021). "DT-0036 - Ethnic group by religion". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  6. ^ "RM031 Ethnic group by religion". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  7. ^ Modood, Tariq; Metcalf, Hilary; Virdee, Satnam (1998). "British Asian Entrepreneurs: Culture and Opportunity Structures". In Taylor-Gooby, Peter (ed.). Choice and Public Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 62–78. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-26302-8_4. ISBN 978-0-333-73131-4.
  8. ^ "Ethnic group - Census Maps, ONS". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  9. ^ "Statistics - release calendar - GOV.UK". Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  10. ^ "A guide to comparing 1991 and 2001 Census ethnic group data" (PDF). Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference ukcensus2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2006). "Introduction". Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settlers in Britain, 1600–1857. Orient Blackswan. p. 1. ISBN 978-81-7824-154-8.