Indians lead London population boom

LONDON: Indians make up a major chunk of foreign-born Londoners leading the British capital's population boom that has set London on course to having nearly half of its citizens born overseas by 2031.

Between 1971 and 2011, the number of Londoners born in the Middle East and Asia rose nearly five-fold from 1,80,000 to 9,70,000 with India-born Londoners accounting for about 1,55,000 of the rise.

The African continent took the lead, with the number of Londoners born in Africa rising nearly seven-fold from 90,000 to 6,20,000.

Those from Nigeria alone accounted for nearly 1,00,000 of the rise.

An analysis of the city's census figures by 'The Times', indicates that the immigrant population of London has more than doubled since 1971 and is on course to account for over half of the capital's residents in 16 years.

Of the nearly three million foreign-born Londoners in 2011, about 40 per cent were from Europe, 30 per cent from the Middle East and Asia, 20 per cent from Africa and 10 per cent from America or the Caribbean.

The foreign-born population is predicted to rise to more than five million in 2031 as the capital's total population tips over 10 million.

The city's booming population is down to a large influx of foreign-born immigrants rather than UK citizens moving to the capital, the study found.

The number of Londoners born outside the UK rose from 1.3 million in 1971 to three million in 2011.

The proportion of economically active Londoners grew from 66 per cent to 71 per cent over the same period.

Meanwhile, UK immigration pressure groups have expressed concern at the findings.

Alp Mehmet, the vice-chairman of MigrationWatch UK, said: "On current trends, the UK-born will be in a minority in their own capital within 20 years, despite strong public opposition to mass immigration.

"It is time that the political class wakes up to the implications for the future of our society before they find their credibility in shreds," he said.

'The Times' analysed census documents and London population statistics between 1971 and 2011 to assess the make-up of London's population and how it is likely to change by 2041.