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*Migration Histories > South Asian > Origins
* Population Growth 
 
Until 1962 there were no restrictions on Commonwealth citizens taking up residence in the UK, but since then ever-tighter immigration controls have been imposed. Nevertheless, Britain's South Asian population has grown rapidly in size during the course of the past four decades.

THE GROWTH OF BRITAIN'S SOUTH ASIAN POPULATION: 1961 - 1991

Country of birth/ethnicity 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
India 81,400 240,730 673,704 823,821 1,028,539
Pakistan 24,900 127,565 295,461 449,646 706,752
Bangladesh - - 64,572 157,881 275,250
East Africa - 44,860 181,321 - -
Total South Asian population 106,300 413,155 1,215,048 1,431,348 2,010,541
South Asians as a % of U.K. population 0.23% 0.85% 2.52% 3.04% 4.00%

There are many reasons for this rapid growth. Most of the initial settlers were young men. Once they had established themselves in Britain, they were joined by their wives and then had families. During the past decade their children have themselves reached adulthood, and a significant proportion - especially in the case of those of Pakistani and Bangladeshi descent - are still finding their spouses back home. Hence, for obvious demographic reasons, Britain's South Asian population will continue to increase for several decades to come.

The Asian population in Britain, however, is not representative of Asia itself. The subcontinent is a big place. Its current population is around 1.5 billion, or 20% of the world's population. Those who have settled in Britain originated from a small number of geographical regions, largely determined by the origins of the initial pioneers who came to Britain many decades ago.

We can now add a further religious dimension. A new question on religious beliefs, added to the 2001 Census, revealed that Britain's population now includes 552,421 *Hindus and 329,358 *Sikhs, virtually all of whom are Indian.

Process of elimination suggests that most of the remaining 146,760 British Indians are *Muslim by faith. The overwhelming majority of Britain's Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are also Muslim. However, Britain has a 1,546,626 strong Muslim population, which suggests that around a third of them are not of South Asian origin.

However these various combinations of religion and nationality are not in themselves enough to help us understand the multiplicity of communities and sub-communities into which South Asian settlers have crystallised.

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Creators: Dr. Roger Ballard

 
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