Page 6 - Race Awareness Pocket Book
P. 6
The UK Population
The UK population is made up of different ethnicities.
87% of people are White
13% belong to a Black, Asian, Mixed or Other ethnic group.
In the context of the UK’s Equality Act 2010, race includes a
person’s skin colour, nationality and ethnic or national
origins. Race and ethnicity are seen more as interchangeable
concepts than distinct categories.
Population of England and Wales
The main facts and figures from the 2011 Census show that:
• 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
4