Ethnicity
Bolton is richly diverse with around one fifth of the population from an ethnic minority background. According to Census (2021) data, the proportion of the population from an ethnic minority background significantly increased between 2011 and 2021.
| Bolton | Greater Manchester | England | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group | Subgroup | Number | % | % | % |
| White | Total | 212,941 | 71.9% | 81.0% | |
| English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British | 203,486 | 68.8% | 71.3% | 73.5% | |
| Other White | 7,133 | 2.4% | 3.8% | 6.3% | |
| Irish | 1,430 | 0.5% | 1.1% | 0.9% | |
| Gypsy or Irish Traveller | 519 | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% | |
| Roma | 373 | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | |
| Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh | Total | 59,596 | 20.1% | 13.6% | 9.6% |
| Pakistani | 27,897 | 9.4% | 7.3% | 2.8% | |
| Indian | 26,238 | 8.9% | 2.4% | 3.3% | |
| Other Asian | 3,353 | 1.1% | 1.2 | 1.7 | |
| Chinese | 1,123 | 0.4% | 1.0% | 0.8% | |
| Bangladeshi | 985 | 0.3% | 1.6% | 1.18% | |
| Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African | Total | 11,238 | 3.8% | 4.7 | 4.2% |
| African | 9,299 | 3.1% | 3.4% | 2.6% | |
| Other Black | 1,336 | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.5% | |
| Caribbean | 603 | 0.2% | 0.7% | 1.1% | |
| Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups | Total | 6,643 | 2.2% | 3.0% | 3.0% |
| White & Asian | 2,338 | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | |
| White & Black Caribbean | 1,737 | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.9% | |
| Other Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups | 1,326 | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.8% | |
| White & Black African | 1,242 | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.4% | |
| Other ethnic group | Total | 5,542 | 1.9% | 2.3% | 2.2% |
| Any other ethnic group | 3,730 | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.6% | |
| Arab | 1,812 | 0.6% | 1.0% | 0.6% | |
The most common ethnic minority groups are of Asian Pakistani (9.4%) and Asian Indian (8.9%) background. Bolton has a much larger Asian Pakistani population than the national average of 6.7%. The Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African population makes up 3.8% of Bolton’s total population, a lower proportion than the national average. In addition, 2.2% of the population is of a mixed ethnicity and 1.9% is of 'Other' ethnicity.
Bolton’s population structure varies by ethnicity. The Asian Indian, Asian Pakistani and Black African and Caribbean population have a higher proportion of young people than the White British population. In addition, there are a smaller proportion of older people among Asian Indian, Asian Pakistani and the Black African and Caribbean population than the White British population. This means services in Bolton aimed at maternity, children and young people need to consider the needs of ethnic minority groups.
Ethnic Groups living in Bolton
In Bolton there is a large number of LSOAs with high proportions of the population in ethnic minority groups and these neighbourhoods are shown on the Map below. The ethnic minority populations in Bolton are predominantly of Asian background, with higher than average proportions seen in Asian Indian and Asian Pakistani groups at lower more local area levels.The largest ethnic minority communities are shown on the map below. The majority of these LSOAs are found in Rumworth, Great Lever, Halliwell and Crompton wards.
Other useful resources
- Gypsy Roma Traveller data pack - analysis of census data for Greater Manchester
- Writing about ethnicity style guide from uk gov
- Asylum statistics - from the House of Commons Library. Includes figures by local authority