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Demographics of Luton
Population pyramid of Luton
Population225,261 (2021)
Density4,696/km2 (12,160/sq mi) (2011)
Population density in the 2011 census in Luton

Luton, Bedfordshire, England is an ethnically and culturally diverse town of 203,201 people.[1] It's primarily urban, with a population density of 4,696/km2 (12,160/sq mi). Luton has seen several waves of immigration. In the early part of the 20th century, there was internal migration of Irish and Scottish people to the town. These were followed by Afro-Caribbean and Asian immigrants. More recently immigrants from other European Union countries have made Luton their home. As a result of this Luton has a diverse ethnic mix, with a significant population of Asian descent, mainly Pakistani 29,353 (14.4%) and Bangladeshi 13,606 (6.7%).

[2]

Since the 2011 census, Luton has had a white British population less than 50%, one of three towns in the United Kingdom along with Leicester and Slough. Luton has a majority white population, when non-British white people such as the Irish and Eastern Europeans are included.[2] Identity wise, 81% of the population of Luton define themselves as British of any race.[3]

Industry sectors of Luton over time

Ethnicity

Luton ethnic demography from 1971 to 2021
Population pyramid of Luton by ethnicity in 2021
Ethnic makeup of Luton by single year ages in 2021

The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents for estimations for 1971 and in the 1991 to 2021 censuses in Luton.

Luton is a majority minority town in which no single ethnic group make up the majority of residents, however by broad multi-ethnic groups, Whites make up 54.7% of the population, a decline of 25.5% from 1991 when Whites made up 4 out of every 5 residents (80.2%). Asian British people have grown in proportional size, having gone from 14% in 1991 to nearly one third of the town's population (30%) in 2011. Black British residents have also increased from nearly 5% to nearly 10% in two decades as well as Mixed residents who have gone from 2.6% in 2001 to 4.1% in 2011.

Ethnic Group 1971 estimations[4] 1981 estimations[5] 1991[6] 2001[7] 2011[8] 2021[9]
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
White: Total 148,061 93.3% 139,705 86.1% 137,665 80.19% 132,566 71.90% 111,079 54.66% 101,798 45.2%
White: British – – – – – – 119,793 64.97% 90,530 44.55% 71,532 31.8%
White: Irish – – – – 9,266 5.4% 8,569 4.65% 6,126 3.01% 4,570 2.0%
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller[note 1] – – – – – – – – 198 0.10% 238 0.1%
White: Roma – – – – – – – – – – 808 0.4%
White: Other – – – – – – 4,204 2.28% 14,225 7.00% 24,650 10.9%
Asian or Asian British: Total – – – – 24,114 14.04% 34,773 18.86% 60,952 30% 83,325 37.1%
Asian or Asian British: Indian – – – – 7,205 7,538 4.09% 10,625 5.23% 12,096 5.4%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani – – – – 10,657 17,012 9.23% 29,353 14.45% 41,143 18.3%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi – – – – 4,679 7,641 4.14% 13,606 6.70% 20,630 9.2%
Asian or Asian British: Chinese[note 2] – – – – 655 1,096 0.59% 1,497 0.74% 901 0.4%
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian – – – – 918 1,486 0.81% 5,871 2.89% 8,555 3.8%
Black or Black British: Total – – – – 8,307 4.83% 11,684 6.34% 19,909 9.80% 22,735 10%
Black or Black British: African – – – – 608 3,204 1.74% 9,169 4.51% 11,774 5.2%
Black or Black British: Caribbean – – – – 6,238 7,653 4.15% 8,177 4.02% 8,216 3.6%
Black or Black British: Other Black – – – – 1,461 827 0.45% 2,563 1.26% 2,745 1.2%
Mixed: Total – – – – – – 4,728 2.56% 8,281 4.08% 9,620 4.3%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean – – – – – – 2,414 1.31% 3,831 1.89% 3,486 1.5%
Mixed: White and Black African – – – – – – 389 0.21% 915 0.45% 1,268 0.6%
Mixed: White and Asian – – – – – – 1,058 0.57% 1,805 0.89% 2,429 1.1%
Mixed: Other Mixed – – – – – – 867 0.47% 1,730 0.85% 2,437 1.1%
Other: Total – – – – 1,585 0.92% 620 0.34% 2,980 1.47% 7,783 3.4%
Other: Arab[note 3] – – – – – – – – 1,646 0.81% 2,106 0.9%
Other: Any other ethnic group – – – – 1,585 0.92% 620 0.34% 1,334 0.66% 5,677 2.5%
Ethnic minority: Total 10,694 6.7% 22,626 13.9% 34,006 19.8% 51,805 28.1% 92,122 45.3% 123,463 54.8%
Total 158,755 100% 162,331 100% 171,671 100% 184,371 100% 203,201 100% 225,261 100%

Notes

  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

Distribution of ethnic groups according to the 2011 census in Luton
  • 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

Luton's schools are majority-minority, that being no single ethnic group makes up the majority, the single largest group is British Pakistanis at 25.1% of the school pupil population and the largest multi-ethnic group being Asian British people at 47.4% in 2022, which was previous White's at 53.5% in 2004. The native White British population has declined from a near majority in 2004 at 49.5% to 17.2% in 2022. Black British people and Mixed people have also increased however Other ethnicities has declined from a peak of 3.7% in 2016 to 2.2% in 2022.

Ethnic group School year[10][11]
2004 2015/16 2021/2022
Number % Number % Number %
White: Total 14,900 53.5% 7,285 29.4% 12,230 30.2%
White: British 13,780 49.5% 4,229 17.1% 6,972 17.2%
White: Irish 550 112 154
White: Traveller of Irish heritage 40 34 44
White: Gypsy/Roma 20 151 169
White: Other 510 2,759 4,891
Asian / Asian British: Total 8,140 29.3% 12,089 48.8% 19,185 47.4%
Asian / Asian British: Indian 950 3.4% 888 3.6% 1,571 3.9%
Asian / Asian British: Pakistani 4,090 14.7% 6,177 24.9% 10,163 25.1%
Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi 2,080 149 4,998
Asian / Asian British: Chinese 90 46 87
Asian / Asian British: Other Asians 930 1,235 2,366
Black / Black British: Total 2,510 9% 2,140 8.6% 3,995 9.9%
Black: Caribbean 1,320 327 1,013
Black: African 950 1,653 2,613
Black: Other Blacks 250 160 369
Mixed / British Mixed 1,750 6.3% 2,105 8.5% 3,676 9.1%
Other: Total 170 0.6% 909 3.7% 890 2.2%
Unclassified 390 266 475
Total: 27,840 100% 24,794 100% 40,451 100%

Country of birth

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

Languages

The most common main languages spoken in Luton according to the 2011 census are shown in the following table.[12]

Rank Language Usual residents aged 3+ Proportion
1 English 153,463 79.43%
2 Urdu 8,567 4.43%
3 Polish 8,006 4.14%
4 Bengali 6,337 3.28%
5 Punjabi 2,203 1.14%
6 Gujarati 1,714 0.89%
7 Arabic 1,037 0.54%
8 Lithuanian 698 0.36%
9 Tamil 653 0.34%
10 Tagalog/Filipino 524 0.27%
11 Shona 489 0.25%
12 Hindi 484 0.25%
13 French 439 0.23%
14 Portuguese 397 0.21%
15 Slovak 352 0.18%
16 Italian 342 0.18%
17 Romanian 340 0.18%
18 Russian 324 0.17%
19 Malayalam 316 0.16%
20 Pashto 293 0.15%
Other 6,217 3.22%

Religion

Religious makeup of Luton by single year age groups in 2021

The following table shows the religion of respondents in the 2001, 2011 and 2021 censuses in Luton.

Religion 2001[13] 2011[14] 2021[15]
Number % Number % Number %
Christian 109,973 59.65% 96,271 47.38% 85,297 37.87%
Buddhist 456 0.25% 652 0.32% 664 0.3%
Hindu 5,025 2.73% 6,749 3.32% 7,438 3.30%
Jewish 534 0.29% 326 0.16% 246 0.1%
Muslim 26,963 14.62% 49,991 24.60% 74,191 32.94%
Sikh 1,487 0.81% 2,347 1.16% 3,032 1.35%
Other religion 642 0.35% 898 0.44% 1,115 0.5%
No religion 25,960 14.08% 33,594 16.53% 39,580 17.57%
Religion not stated 13,331 7.23% 12,373 6.09% 13,697 6.08%
Total 184,371 100.00% 203,201 100.00% 225,262 100.0

Distribution

Distribution of religions according to the 2011 census in Luton
  • Christianity
    Christianity
  • Islam
    Islam
  • Judaism
    Judaism
  • Hinduism
    Hinduism
  • Sikhism
    Sikhism
  • Buddhism
    Buddhism
  • Other religion
    Other religion
  • No religion
    No religion

See also

References

  1. ^ "LUTON BOROUGH PROFILE 2011 CENSUS DATA" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b "Local Authority by Ethnic Group". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  3. ^ Philipson, Alice. "White Britons a minority in Leicester, Luton and Slough". Telegraph. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Equality, Commission for Racial (1985). "Ethnic minorities in Britain: statistical information on the pattern of settlement". Commission for Racial Equality: Table 2.2.
  6. ^ Data is taken from United Kingdom Casweb Data services of the United Kingdom 1991 Census on Ethnic Data for England, Scotland and Wales (Table 6)
  7. ^ "Office of National Statistics; 2001 Census Key Statistics". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  8. ^ "2011 Census: Ethnic Group, local authorities in England and Wales". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Ethnic group - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  10. ^ "School and pupil characteristics". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Schools, pupils and their characteristics, Academic Year 2021/22". explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Download:local authorities: county / unitary". NOMIS. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  13. ^ "2001 census - theme tables". Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  14. ^ "Download:local authorities: county / unitary". NOMIS. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  15. ^ "Religion - Religion by local authorities, ONS".
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