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Religion & Ethnicity

(Sources: Census 2001, Office for National Statistics Census 2001, General Register Office for Scotland)

  • Nine out of ten Sikhs (91%) living in Great Britain in 2001 were from an Indian ethnic background. Hindus were also predominantly Indian (84%).
  • The vast majority of Christians were White (97%) and this group accounted for almost 40 million people. Although Black people made up only 2% of the total Christian population, 71% of Black people were Christian (815,000), as were half (52% or 353,000) of the Mixed ethnic group.
  • Three quarters of Muslims (74%) were from an Asian ethnic background, predominantly Pakistani (43%), Bangladeshi (16%), Indian (8%) and Other Asian (6%). There were almost 1.2 million Asian Muslims living in Great Britain in 2001. One in ten Muslims (11%) were from a White ethnic group, 4% were of White British origin and 7% from another White background including Turkish, Cypriot, Arab and Eastern European. A further 6% of Muslims were of Black African origin, mainly from North and West Africa, particularly Somalia.
  • The vast majority of Jewish people were White (97%), as were 95% of people who had no religion.
  • Buddhism was the most ethnically diverse of all the main religions. It was made up of people from White (38%), Chinese (25%), Asian (10%), Mixed (3%), Black (1%) and Other (24%) ethnic groups.
  • Chinese people are the least religious. In 2001, more than half (53%) said that they had no religion. People from a Mixed ethnic background were the next least religious (23%).
  • South Asians and Black Africans were the most religious. Only 2% of Indians, 2% of Black Africans and less than 1% each of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis said that they had no religion.
  • Younger people were less religious than older people, and this was true for all ethnic groups. The proportions having no religion were so small among South Asians that the variation with age was much less marked for these groups.
  • Among most minority ethnic groups, being religious was also related to country of birth. Those born in the UK were less likely to be religious than their immigrant parents born abroad.