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Britain's immigrant communities more diverse than ever

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07 September 2005

The true picture of Britain's new immigrant diversity is revealed for the first time today (Wednesday) by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). In a major new study the ippr shows how this diversity has radically changed in the last fifteen years.

The report uses the Census and Labour Force Survey to provide detailed analysis of Britain's new immigrant communities - defined as those who have arrived since 1990 - from over 50 countries and regions. It presents a comprehensive picture of where they live and work, and profiles their education, earnings, age and gender.

Data from the report is exclusively available online at the BBC News website's Born Abroad page (www.bbc.co.uk/bornabroad), with unique and interactive maps of Britain where readers can find out about populations born abroad at a national, regional and local level.

Beyond Black and White: mapping new immigrant communities' key findings:

Immigrants made up 7.5 per cent of the total population in 2001 compared to 5.7 per cent in 1991, an increase of 1,147,905 people.
New immigrants now make up just over half the immigrant population, compared to about a third in 1994.
Indians and Pakistanis make up the largest immigrant communities, followed by those born in Germany, the Caribbean and the USA.
Since 1991 Britain has seen a rapid growth in communities from non-traditional immigration countries. The number of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia has tripled. Those from Sierra Leone, China, South Africa and Sweden have doubled. The Caribbean-born community declined by over 12,000 between 1991 and 2001.
41 per cent of immigrants are based in London, making up 25 per cent of the capital's population.
37 per cent of new immigrants in Scotland hold a higher level qualification, the highest of any region.
In Northern Ireland new immigrants are more likely to be in employment than the British Isles-born population.
In 2004 62 per cent of new immigrants were in employment compared to only 49 per cent in 1994.
The new immigrant communities with the highest levels of employment come from New Zealand (93.6%), Australia (90.6%) and the Philippines (85.4%). The lowest employment levels come from Somalia (12.2%), Angola (30%) and Iran (31.7%).
No immigrant group constitutes a majority anywhere in the UK.

Nick Pearce, ippr Director said:
"The standard classifications of Britain's ethnic minorities are obsolete. In the last fifteen years Britain has become much more diverse. It is now home to communities from every corner of the globe. London is hyper-diverse, a world city in every sense.

"Many new immigrant communities are doing well. But others are doing badly. This report gives a fine-grained analysis to underpin integration strategies. We must stop any community getting left behind."

Sarah Kyambi, ippr Research Fellow and report author said:
"We know a lot about certain immigrant communities or certain places. But there is little information available that allows for direct comparison between different immigrant groups or locations. This report seeks to fill that gap by providing a more comprehensive evidence base."

Beyond Black and White: mapping new immigrant communities by Sarah Kyambi is available from www.ippr.org.

Interactive maps, tables and figures based on the ippr's report can be viewed from Wednesday 7th September at the BBC News Website www.bbc.co.uk/bornabroad. Information is available for each different country of birth including economic data.

Notes to Editors:

A breakdown of the key findings is available to journalists from the ippr media office.
Immigrants are defined as foreign born people, rather than foreign nationals. The foreign born are those born outside the British Isles.
The report defines new immigrants in 2005 as those who arrived in the UK in 1990 or later.
When analysing the data from 1994 new immigrants are defined as those who arrived in the UK in 1980. This is to create an appropriate cohort group of new immigrants that can be compared with new immigrants in 2005 (using 2004 data).
Census data is used to map where the immigrant communities are located and the change in location between 1991 and 2001.
The Labour Force Survey is used to compare the age, gender, employment status, earnings and education levels of new immigrants.
The report maps broad immigration trends based on data taken from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), International Passenger Survey (IPS) and Home Office immigration statistics.

Contacts
Matt Jackson, Senior Media Officer, 020 7339 0007 / 07753 719289 / m.jackson@ippr.org