Demographics of Coventry
Population pyramid of Coventry
Population316,960 (2011)
Population density in the 2011 census in Coventry

Coventry, England is an ethnically and culturally diverse city. It is the fifteenth most populous city in the United Kingdom.

Industry sectors of Coventry over time

Population

Coventry's total population, according to the 2011 UK census, was 316,960. The population density was 3,408 people per square km.

Ethnicity

Ethnic demography of Coventry over time
Ethnic makeup of Coventry by single year ages in 2021

The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 censuses in Coventry. Coventry has declined from a 88.1% White overall city to one with less than two-thirds of its population. Asian British people have risen from around 1 in 10 (9.7%) to around nearly 1 in 5 (18.5). Black British people have experienced an explosive growth, coming primarily from the increasing African population, they have risen from 1.6% to 8.9% from 1991 to 2021. The Mixed and Other ethnicities have also increased as well.

Ethnic Group 1971 estimations[1] 1981 estimations[2] 1991[3][4] 2001[5] 2011[6] 2021[7]
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
White: Total 310,281 94% 277,505 90.4% 259,513 88.15% 252,643 83.98% 234,029 73.84% 226,246 65.5%
White: British – – – – – – 235,632 78.32% 211,188 66.63% 190,889 55.3%
White: Irish – – – – 13,540 4.59% 10,401 3.46% 7,305 2.30% 5,662 1.6%
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller[note 1] – – – – – – – – 151 0.05% 294 0.1%
White: Roma – – – – – – – – – – 1,116 0.3%
White: Other – – – – – – 6,610 2.20% 15,385 4.85% 28,285 8.2%
Asian or Asian British: Total – – – – 28,448 9.66% 36,093 12.00% 51,598 16.28% 63,915 18.5%
Asian or Asian British: Indian – – – – 21,562 7.32% 24,177 8.04% 27,751 8.76% 32,096 9.3%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani – – – – 3,856 1.3% 6,169 2.05% 9,510 3.00% 12,658 3.7%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi – – – – 1,201 0.4% 1,741 0.58% 2,951 0.93% 4,257 1.2%
Asian or Asian British: Chinese[note 2] – – – – 825 0.28% 2,183 0.73% 3,728 1.18% 4,571 1.3%
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian – – – – 1,004 0.34% 1,823 0.61% 7,658 2.42% 10,333 3.0%
Black or Black British: Total – – – – 4,822 1.63% 5,412 1.80% 17,764 5.60% 30,723 8.9%
Black or Black British: African – – – – 423 0.14% 1,679 0.56% 12,836 4.05% 24,109 7.0%
Black or Black British: Caribbean – – – – 3,288 1.11% 3,314 1.10% 3,317 1.05% 3,459 1.0%
Black or Black British: Other Black – – – – 1,111 0.37% 419 0.14% 1,611 0.51% 3,155 0.9%
Mixed: Total – – – – – – 5,163 1.72% 8,230 2.60% 11,731 3.4%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean – – – – – – 2,453 0.82% 3,672 1.16% 4,597 1.3%
Mixed: White and Black African – – – – – – 271 0.09% 943 0.30% 1,663 0.5%
Mixed: White and Asian – – – – – – 1,605 0.53% 2,388 0.75% 3,182 0.9%
Mixed: Other Mixed – – – – – – 834 0.28% 1,227 0.39% 2,289 0.7%
Other: Total – – – – 1,604 0.54% 1,537 0.51% 5,339 1.68% 12,706 3.7%
Other: Arab[note 3] – – – – – – – – 2,020 0.64% 2,482 0.7%
Other: Any other ethnic group – – – – 1,604 0.54% 1,537 0.51% 3,319 1.05% 10,224 3.0%
Ethnic minority: Total 19,968 6% 29,494 9.6% 34,874 11.85% 48,205 16% 82,931 26.2% 119,075 34.5%
Total 330,249 100% 306,999 100% 294,387 100% 300,848 100% 316,960 100% 345,321 100%

Notes for table above

  1. ^ New category created for the 2011 census
  2. ^ In 2001, listed under the 'Chinese or other ethnic group' heading.
  3. ^ New category created for the 2011 census
Distribution of ethnic groups in Coventry according to the 2011 census.
  • White
    White
  • White-British
    White-British
  • White-Irish
    White-Irish
  • White-Other
    White-Other
  • Asian
    Asian
  • Asian-Indian
    Asian-Indian
  • Asian-Pakistani
    Asian-Pakistani
  • Asian-Bangladeshi
    Asian-Bangladeshi
  • Asian-Chinese
    Asian-Chinese
  • Black
    Black
  • Black-African
    Black-African
  • Black-Caribbean
    Black-Caribbean
  • Other-Arab
    Other-Arab

Ethnicity of school pupils[8]

Coventry's schools are in a majority-minority state with no-overall ethnic majority present, however of broad multi-ethnic groups, Whites make up the majority with 54.3% of the population.

Ethnic group School year
2021/2022
Number %
White: Total 31,770 54.3
White: British 25,797 44.1
White: Irish 167 0.3
White: Traveller of Irish heritage 44 0.1
White: Gypsy/Roma 540 0.9
White: Other 5,222 8.9
Asian / Asian British: Total 12,780 22
Asian / Asian British: Indian 5,217 8.9
Asian / Asian British: Pakistani 3,072 5.3
Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi 1,027 1.8
Asian / Asian British: Chinese 264 0.5
Asian / Asian British: Other Asians 3,200 5.5
Black / Black British: Total 7,733 13.2
Black: Caribbean 340 0.6
Black: African 6,683 11.4
Black: Other Blacks 710 1.2
Mixed / British Mixed 4,330 7.4
Other: Total 1,257 2.1
Unclassified 626 1.1
Total: 58,496 100.0

Languages

The most common main languages spoken in Coventry according to the 2011 census are shown below.[9]

Rank Language Usual residents aged 3+ Proportion
1 English 261,117 86.14%
2 Punjabi 6,849 2.26%
3 Polish 6,161 2.03%
4 Gujarati 2,523 0.83%
5 Urdu 2,479 0.82%
6 Arabic 1,821 0.60%
7 Tamil 1,445 0.48%
8 Bengali (with Sylheti and Chatgaya) 1,391 0.46%
9 French 1,340 0.44%
10 Persian/Farsi 925 0.31%
11 Kurdish 895 0.30%
12 Romanian 883 0.29%
13 Hindi 784 0.26%
14 Somali 746 0.25%
15 Latvian 674 0.22%
16 Russian 597 0.20%
17 Swahili/Kiswahili 572 0.19%
18 Shona 521 0.17%
19 Slovak 497 0.16%
20 Malayalam 465 0.15%
Other 10,445 3.45%

Country of birth

UK and foreign born population pyramid of Coventry in 2021. Males and females representing the UK born population while foreign males and females representing the foreign born population.

Coventry's population is 27.9% foreign born as of 2021.

Country of birth Year
2021[10]
Number %
 United Kingdom 248,990 72.1%
Foreign born 96,333 27.9%
Total 345,323 100%

Religion

Religious make up of Coventry by single year age groups in 2021

The following table shows the religion of respondents in the 2001 and 2011 censuses in Coventry.

Religion 2001[11] 2011[12] 2021[13]
Number % Number % Number %
Christian 196,346 65.26% 170,090 53.66% 151,577 43.9%
Buddhist 784 0.26% 1,067 0.34% 1,257 0.4%
Hindu 7,757 2.58% 11,152 3.52% 13,724 4.0%
Jewish 222 0.07% 210 0.07% 259 0.1%
Muslim 11,686 3.88% 23,665 7.47% 35,800 10.4%
Sikh 13,960 4.64% 15,912 5.02% 17,297 5.0%
Other religion 733 0.24% 1,641 0.52% 1,908 0.6%
No religion 45,314 15.06% 72,896 23.00% 102,338 29.6%
Religion not stated 24,046 7.99% 20,327 6.41% 21,166 6.1%
Total 300,848 100.00% 316,960 100.00% 345,326 100%
Distribution of religions in Coventry according to the 2011 census.
  • Christianity
    Christianity
  • Islam
    Islam
  • Judaism
    Judaism
  • Hinduism
    Hinduism
  • Sikhism
    Sikhism
  • Buddhism
    Buddhism
  • Other religion
    Other religion
  • No religion
    No religion

See also

References

  1. ^ Jones, P. N. (1978). "The Distribution and Diffusion of the Coloured Population in England and Wales, 1961-71". Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 3 (4): 515–532. doi:10.2307/622127. ISSN 0020-2754. JSTOR 622127. PMID 12157820.
  2. ^ Equality, Commission for Racial (1985). "Ethnic minorities in Britain: statistical information on the pattern of settlement". Commission for Racial Equality: Table 2.2.
  3. ^ Office of Population Censuses and Surveys; General Register Office for Scotland; Registrar General for Northern Ireland (1997): 1991 Census aggregate data. UK Data Service (Edition: 1997). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-1991-1 This information is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence
  4. ^ As UK Census data post 2001 is unavailable through the ONS website, it has been recommended to use archival census collection websites to obtain data. Data is taken from United Kingdom Casweb Data services of the United Kingdom 1991 Census on Ethnic Data for England. (Table 6)
  5. ^ "2001 census - theme tables". NOMIS. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Download:local authorities: county / unitary". NOMIS. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Ethnic group - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  8. ^ "Schools, pupils and their characteristics, Academic Year 2021/22". explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  9. ^ "Download:local authorities: county / unitary". NOMIS. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  10. ^ "TS004 - Country of birth - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics". www.nomisweb.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  11. ^ "2001 census - theme tables". Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  12. ^ "Download:local authorities: county / unitary". NOMIS. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Home - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
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