HRS 4/05 May 2005 Housing Research Summary A Profile of the Housing and Socio-Economic Circumstances of Black and Minority Ethnic People in Wales in 2001 This research project was commissioned in order to help inform the National Assembly for Wales’ Black and Minority Ethnic Housing Strategy. The aim is to provide up-to-date information on the characteristics of the black and minority ethnic (BME) population, trends in the BME population and likely patterns of change in the future. The main source for the study was the 2001 Census of Population, which provides the most up-to-date picture of the population and households for ethnic groups and for Welsh local authorities. The key findings are: The BME population of Wales is relatively small, but highly diverse. It is still mainly concentrated into the major cities of south Wales, but there are BME communities in all parts of Wales. Some sections of the BME population are extremely deprived, but there are also prosperous ethnic groups. The asylum seeker and refugee population is quite small and mainly located in the major cities. It has different needs from the BME population as a whole. The number of people aged over 50 in the BME population is small but significant. The Caribbean population contains the largest elderly population amongst BME groups. If historic trends continue, the BME population will increase to form 3.2% of the population of Wales in 2011. 1. The ethnic composition of Wales The BME population of Wales was small relative to other parts of the UK (2.1% compared with a UK average of 7.9%) in 2001. It is diverse and the long history of inter-ethnic unions has resulted in a unusually large share of the population being of mixed parentage or classified as of “other” ethnicity by the Census (Table 1). The largest religious minority consists of Muslim people, of which there were 21.7 thousand in 2001, representing half of the 43.8 thousand people with a non-Christian religion and a third of the BME population. This group is highly diverse in terms of ethnic and national origins, with substantial Black- African, Arab and south-east Asian components. The Welsh Assembly Government – A Profile of the Housing and Socio-Economic Circumstances of Black and Minority Ethnic People in Wales in 2001 Table 1: The ethnic composition of Wales in 2001 Wales UK Persons Percent of Wales Persons Percent of Wales share of UK population UK population population White 2,841,507 97.9 5.2 54,153,898 92.1 Mixed parentage 17,661 0.6 2.6 677,117 1.2 White/Black-Caribbean 5,996 0.2 - - - White/Black-African 2,414 0.1 - - - White/Asian 4,999 0.2 - - - White/Other 4,251 0.1 - - - Asian or Asian British 25,448 0.9 1.1 2,331,423 4.0 Indian 8,259 0.3 0.8 1,053,411 1.8 Pakistani 8,287 0.3 1.1 747,285 1.3 Bangladeshi 5,434 0.2 1.9 283,063 0.5 Other Asian 3,464 0.1 1.4 247,664 0.4 Black or Black British 7,069 0.2 0.6 1,148,738 2.0 Black Caribbean 2,597 0.1 0.5 565,876 1.0 Black African 3,727 0.1 0.8 485,277 0.8 Black Other 746 0.0 0.8 97,585 0.2 Chinese or Other ethnic group 11,402 0.4 2.4 478,018 0.8 Chinese 6,266 0.2 2.5 247,403 0.4 Other 5,135 0.2 2.2 230,615 0.4 Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) 61,576 2.1 1.3 4,635,296 7.9 All ethnic groups 2,903,083 100.0 4.9 5,878,919 100.0 Source: 2001 Census of Population (Key Statistics Table 6) 2 The Welsh Assembly Government – A Profile of the Housing and Socio-Economic Circumstances of Black and Minority Ethnic People in Wales in 2001 The BME population was much younger contrast, 10.1% of BME people were aged than the white population of Wales in 0 to 4 and 21.7% aged 5 to 15, compared 2001. The mean age of white people was with 5.7% and 14.3% respectively for 39.8 years, compared with 28.1 years for white people. The more youthful nature of BME people. Among BME people, Black the BME population means that up to the people were oldest on average at 34.6 age of 45, each age group forms a larger years, while those of mixed parentage were share of the BME than the white youngest, aged 23 on average. More than population; above that age, the pattern is a fifth of white people, but only 6.5% of reversed. (Table 2) BME people were of pensionable age. In Table 2: Age structure of each ethnic and religious group (percentages of each ethnic and religious group) Population Aged Aged Aged Aged Aged Aged Aged 0-4 5-15 16-24 25-44 45-59/64 60-65/74 75+ Total population 2,903,083 5.8 14.4 10.9 26.6 22.2 11.8 8.3 White 2,841,505 5.7 14.3 10.8 26.5 22.4 11.9 8.4 White: British 2,786,605 5.7 14.4 10.7 26.5 22.4 11.9 8.4 White: Irish 17,689 1.6 4.4 9.2 23.1 29.5 20.4 11.8 White Other: White 37,211 4.4 9.7 14.8 31.5 20.5 11.4 7.7 BME 61,578 10.1 21.7 17.1 31.0 13.6 4.6 1.9 Mixed parentage 17,660 15.0 31.5 16.4 22.5 9.2 3.3 2.0 White & Black Caribbean 5,996 14.9 34.6 15.8 21.7 7.3 3.5 2.3 White & Black African 2,414 15.9 26.9 15.1 25.6 11.4 3.7 1.3 White & Asian 4,999 16.2 32.7 17.2 22.1 7.7 2.7 1.6 Other Mixed 4,251 13.4 28.5 17.3 22.3 12.4 3.6 2.4 Asian or Asian British 25,447 9.6 19.5 17.7 32.0 15.1 4.6 1.5 Indian 8,261 6.4 14.5 18.7 35.3 18.8 5.0 1.2 Pakistani 8,287 11.0 21.6 17.6 29.3 13.1 5.5 1.8 Bangladeshi 5,436 13.5 25.8 19.0 29.6 8.9 2.4 0.9 3 The Welsh Assembly Government – A Profile of the Housing and Socio-Economic Circumstances of Black and Minority Ethnic People in Wales in 2001 Population Aged Aged Aged Aged Aged Aged Aged 0-4 5-15 16-24 25-44 45-59/64 60-65/74 75+ Other Asian 3,463 7.7 16.4 13.5 34.5 21.0 5.0 1.9 Black or Black British 7,070 6.5 14.8 14.4 35.5 15.9 8.8 4.3 Black Caribbean 2,597 2.7 8.9 9.1 40.6 20.7 13.4 4.5 Black African 3,727 8.9 18.1 17.6 32.2 12.8 6.5 3.9 Other Black 746 7.5 18.4 16.8 34.2 14.3 3.9 5.0 Chinese or Other Ethnic 11,401 5.8 15.6 18.4 39.3 15.8 3.8 1.3 Group Chinese 6,266 5.7 15.4 21.4 34.2 17.1 4.8 1.5 Other Ethnic Group 5,135 5.9 15.9 14.7 45.5 14.2 2.6 1.2 Religion Christian 2,087,242 4.3 13.4 9.4 24.4 24.5 14.1 10.0 Buddhist 5,407 2.2 7.1 11.9 38.9 31.1 6.2 2.6 Hindu 5,433 6.2 13.0 17.6 36.0 21.3 4.7 1.2 Jewish 2,256 3.5 8.1 8.8 21.7 28.3 15.2 14.4 Muslim 21,739 11.6 23.0 17.4 31.2 12.2 3.6 1.0 Sikh 2,014 7.1 21.8 18.9 30.7 15.5 3.7 2.3 Any other religion 6,909 2.0 5.8 12.5 38.2 28.8 9.0 3.7 No religion 537,935 9.1 16.7 16.5 36.3 15.6 3.9 2.0 Source: 2001 Census of Population (Standard Tables 101 and 149) The BME population mainly lived within population share in much of north Wales south-east Wales, with Cardiff having both was well below the Welsh average. The the largest BME population and the Chinese community was the most greatest ethnic diversity (Table 3). Cardiff geographically widespread (followed by the alone contained two-fifths of the BME Bangladeshi ethnic group), while the population of Wales. Three-fifths of BME Pakistani and Black ethnic groups are the people lived in the three major cities, in all most geographically concentrated into of which the BME share of the population south-east Wales. BME people are less was well above the national average. likely to live in rural areas or traditional While BME people live in most Welsh industrial areas than white people.