Demographics of Bradford

Bradford, England is an ethnically and culturally diverse city. The City of Bradford metropolitan borough is the sixth most populous local authority district in the United Kingdom, and includes not only Bradford but also the towns and villages of Keighley, Shipley, Bingley, Ilkley, Haworth, Silsden, Queensbury, Thornton and Denholme.

Demographics of Bradford
Population pyramid of Bradford
Population	522,452 (2011)

Population density in the 2011 census in the Bradford Metropolitan District Council area.

Built-up area

The Office for National Statistics identifies "Bradford Built-up area subdivision", defined by its own algorithm,^[1] as an area of 81.74 km² (31.56 sq mi) with a 2011 population of 349,561 and a density of 4,280 people per square km.^[2] It is a subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area.

Population

The City of Bradford's total population, according to the 2011 UK census, was 522,452. The population density was 1,428 people per square km.

Ethnicity

Ethnic demography of Bradford over time

Population pyramid of Bradford by ethnicity in 2021

Ethnic makeup of Bradford by single year ages in 2021

The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the 1991, 2001 and 2011 censuses in the City of Bradford.

Bradford has had a significant Pakistani population since post war migration began, making up around 25.5% according to the 2021 census. This increase in Pakistanis has generally provided the majority of the growth of the multi-ethnic group of Asian British people within the city. Around 63.9% of the population identify as White British. The black population of Bradford is small, making up just 1.8% of the overall population.

Ethnic Group	Year
	1961 estimations[3]		1964 estimations[4]		1971 estimations[5]		1981 estimations[6]		1991 census[7]		2001 census[8]		2011 census[9]		2021 census[10]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
White: Total	–	–	–	–	421,351	94.2%	404,500	87%	386,025	84.4%	366,041	78.27%	352,317	67.44%	334,004	61.1%
White: British	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	355,684	76.06%	333,628	63.86%	309,912	56.7%
White: Irish	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4,759	1.04%	3,479	0.74%	2,541	0.49%	2,139	0.4%
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller[note 1]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	433	0.08%	849	0.2%
White: Roma	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,583	0.3%
White: Other	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6,878	1.47%	15,715	3.01%	19,521	3.6%
Asian or Asian British: Total	–	–	–	–	–	–	48,800	10.5%	62,963	13.79%	89,293	19.09%	140,149	26.83%	175,664	32.1%
Asian or Asian British: Indian	–	–	–	–	7,748[11]	1.7%	12,900	2.8%	11,713	2.56%	12,504	2.67%	13,555	2.59%	14,429	2.6%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani	7,000	1.6%	10,000	–	–	–	33,600	7.2%	45,280	9.9%	67,994	14.54%	106,614	20.41%	139,553	25.5%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi	–	–	1,500	–	–	–	2,300	0.5%	3,653	0.79%	4,967	1.06%	9,863	1.89%	12,403	2.3%
Asian or Asian British: Chinese[note 2]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	720	0.15%	896	0.19%	2,086	0.40%	1,345	0.2%
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,597	0.34%	2,932	0.63%	8,031	1.54%	7,934	1.5%
Black or Black British: Total	–	–	–	–	–	–	6,200	1.3%	5,336	1.16%	4,333	0.93%	9,267	1.77%	10,978	2%
Black or Black British: African	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	610	0.13%	970	0.21%	4,993	0.96%	7,061	1.3%
Black or Black British: Caribbean	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3,323	0.72%	3,038	0.65%	3,581	0.69%	2,614	0.5%
Black or Black British: Other Black	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,403	0.3%	325	0.07%	693	0.13%	1,303	0.2%
Mixed: Total	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6,937	1.48%	12,979	2.48%	15,006	2.7%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,611	0.56%	4,663	0.89%	4,426	0.8%
Mixed: White and Black African	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	449	0.10%	875	0.17%	1,196	0.2%
Mixed: White and Asian	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,926	0.63%	5,677	1.09%	6,458	1.2%
Mixed: Other Mixed	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	951	0.20%	1,764	0.34%	2,926	0.5%
Other: Total	–	–	–	–	–	–	5,350	1.2%	3,020	0.66%	1,061	0.23%	7,740	1.48%	10,760	2%
Other: Arab[note 3]	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3,714	0.71%	2,734	0.5%
Other: Any other ethnic group	–	–	–	–	–	–	5,350	1.2%	3,020	0.66%	1,061	0.23%	4,026	0.77%	8,026	1.5%
Ethnic minority: Total	–	–	–	–	26,195	5.8%	60,350	13%	71,319	15.6%	101,624	21.7%	170,135	32.6%	212,408	38.9%
Total	447,546	100%	–	–	451,753	100%	464,850	100%	457,344	100%	467,665	100%	522,452	100%	546,412	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 the Bradford Metropolitan District Council area according to the 2011 census.

• 
  White
• 
  White-British
• 
  White-Irish
• 
  White-Other
• 
  Asian
• 
  Asian-Indian
• 
  Asian-Pakistani
• 
  Asian-Bangladeshi
• 
  Asian-Chinese
• 
  Black
• 
  Black-African
• 
  Black-Caribbean
• 
  Other-Arab

• Population pyramids of ethnicities in Bradford in 2021
• 
  White British
• 
  Asian: Total
• 
  Asian: Pakistani

Ethnicity of school pupils

The ethnicity of school pupils within Bradford has been in flux, with the native White British population declining from a majority of 61.7% in 2004 to a minority of 40.1% of the total school pupil population. This shift has turned Bradford's schools into a majority-minority state, where there are no overall majorities. Asian British school children have risen from 33.1% of the school pupil population to a stagnate 42.7% in 2022, having declined the previous two years from 43.1% in 2020. The largest group within this multi-ethnic amalgamation is British Pakistanis at 36.4% of the total school population. Black British school pupils have risen slightly from 1% to 1.9% with the majority of growth coming from Black Africans. Other groups such as Other ethnicities, Other Whites and Mixed people have also increased as well.

Ethnic group	School year[12][13]
	1967[14]		1971[15]		2004		2008		2012		2015/16		2019/20		2021/2022
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
White: Total	–	93.3%	–	89.5%	45,930	62.6%	41,380	56%	39,320	51.1%	40,978	48.7%	46,896	46.3%	46,157	45.5%
White: British	–	–	–	–	45,300	61.7%	40,027	54.2%	36,885	47.9%	36,629	43.6%	41,350	40.9%	40,577	40.1%
White: Irish	–	–	–	–	90		85		94		96	0.1%	115	0.1%	113	0.1%
White: Traveller of Irish heritage	–	–	–	–	20		21		36		31	0.0%	28	0.0%	37	0.0%
White: Gypsy/Roma	–	–	–	–	70		166		494		1,260	1.5%	1,140	1.1%	1,031	1.0%
White: Other	–	–	–	–	450	0.6%	1,082		1,809		2,962	3.5%	4,263	4.2%	4,399	4.3%
Asian / Asian British: Total	–	–	–	–	24,280	33.1%	28,387	38.4%	32,704	42.5%	36,353	43.3%	43,447	43.1%	43,268	42.7%
Asian / Asian British: Indian	–	–	–	–	1,790	2.4%	1,839		1,838		1,809	2.2%	1,982	2.0%	1,974	1.9%
Asian / Asian British: Pakistani	–	–	–	–	20,160	27.5%	23,241	31.5%	26,727	34.7%	30,674	36.5%	36,849	36.5%	36,841	36.4%
Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi	–	–	–	–	1,750		2,141		2,518		2,851	3.4%	3,315	3.3%	3,153	3.1%
Asian / Asian British: Chinese	–	–	–	–	80		85		110		88	0.1%	98	0.1%	97	0.1%
Asian / Asian British: Other Asians	–	–	–	–	500		1,081		1,511		931	1.1%	1,203	1.2%	1,203	1.2%
Black / Black British: Total	–	–	–	–	700	1%	940	1.3%	1,015	1.3%	1,170	1.4%	1,762	1.7%	1,954	1.9%
Black: Caribbean	–	–	–	–	340		326		309		284	0.3%	252	0.2%	215	0.2%
Black: African	–	–	–	–	270	0.4%	488		577		815	1.0%	1,316	1.3%	1,515	1.5%
Black: Other Blacks	–	–	–	–	90		118		131		107	0.1%	194	0.2%	224	0.2%
Mixed / British Mixed	–	–	–	–	1,800	2.5%	2,390	3.2%	2,900	3.8%	3,903	4.6%	6,124	6.0%	6,550	6.5%
Other: Total	–	–	–	–	250	0.3%	557	0.8%	760	1%	961	1.1%	1,566	1.5%	1,880	1.9%
Unclassified	–	–	–	–	430	0.6%	20	–	225	0.3%	592	0.7%	1,261	1.2%	1,500	1.5%
Non-White: Total	–	6.7%	–	10.5%		37.4%		44%		48.9%		51.3%		53.7%		54.5%
Total:	–	100%	–	100%	73,380	100%	73,860	100%	76,930	100%	83,993	100%	101,056	100%	101,309	100%

Country of birth

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

Country of birth	Year
	1961 census[16]		1981 census[17]		2021 census[18]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
United Kingdom	–	95.4%	409,202	90.1%	444,478	81.3%
Foreign born	–	4.6%	44,990	9.9%	101,938	18.7%
Total	–	100%	454,192	100%	546,416	100%

Languages

The most common main languages spoken in the City of Bradford according to the 2011 census are shown below.^[19]

Rank	Language	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
1	English	424,527	85.31%
2	Punjabi	19,842	3.99%
3	Urdu	16,550	3.33%
4	Polish	5,526	1.11%
5	Bengali (incl. Sylheti and Chatgaya)	4,743	0.95%
6	Pashto	3,580	0.72%
7	Gujarati	2,638	0.53%
8	Arabic	2,398	0.48%
9	Slovak	2,162	0.43%
10	Kurdish	1,275	0.26%
11	Pakistani Pahari (incl. Mirpuri and Potwari)	1,048	0.21%
12	Latvian	985	0.20%
13	Russian	690	0.14%
14	Czech	642	0.13%
15	Tagalog/Filipino	640	0.13%
16	Persian	592	0.12%
17	Italian	564	0.11%
18	French	443	0.09%
19	Lithuanian	436	0.09%
20	Greek	382	0.08%
	Other	7,945	1.60%

Religion

Religious makeup of Bradford by single year age groups in 2021

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

Religion	1980 estimates[20]		1989 estimations[21]		2001[22]		2011[23]		2021[24]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Holds religious beliefs	–	–	–	–	367,518	78.58	381,876	73.09	362,291	66.3
Christian	–	–	–	–	281,236	60.14	239,843	45.91	182,566	33.4
Muslim	45,000	–	50,000	–	75,188	16.08	129,041	24.70	166,846	30.5
Sikh	–	–	–	–	4,748	1.02	5,125	0.98	4,834	0.9
Hindu	–	–	–	–	4,457	0.95	4,882	0.93	4,757	0.9
Buddhist	–	–	–	–	537	0.11	1,000	0.19	959	0.2
Jewish	–	–	–	–	356	0.08	299	0.06	254	<0.1
Other religion	–	–	–	–	996	0.21	1,686	0.32	2,074	0.4
No religion	–	–	–	–	62,266	13.31	108,027	20.68	154,305	28.2
Religion not stated	–	–	–	–	37,921	8.11	32,549	6.23	29,816	5.5
Total population	–	–	–	–	467,655	100.0	522,452	100.0	546,412	100.0

Industry

Bradford's industry over time

Manufacturing in Bradford has collapsed since the middle half of the 20th century.

See also

• England portal

• Demographics of West Yorkshire
• Demographics of the United Kingdom
• Demographics of England
• Demographics of London
• Demographics of Birmingham
• Demographics of Greater Manchester
• List of English cities by population
• List of English districts by population
• List of English districts and their ethnic composition
• List of English districts by area
• List of English districts by population density