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.

All data from the 2021 census

 

Bolton

Greater Manchester

England

 

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British

203,484

68.76

2,045,943

71.34

41,540,789

73.54

White Other

9,454

3.19

144,885

5.05

4,242,606

7.51

Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Pakistani

27,897

9.43

209,060

7.29

1,570,285

2.78

Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Indian

26,238

8.87

69,478

2.42

1,843,248

3.26

Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh: Other Asian

5,461

1.85

110,734

3.86

2,012,855

3.56

Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African

11,238

3.80

134,114

4.68

2,381,724

4.22

Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups

6,643

2.24

86,529

3.02

1,669,381

2.96

Other ethnic group

5,540

1.87

66,991

2.34

1,229,149

2.18

Total Ethnic Minority

92,471

31.24

821,791

28.66

14,949,248

26.46

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.

 

Ethnic Minority Map

Other useful resources