Census 2011: Changing face of Tower Hamlets

Asians who are Bangladeshi/British have overtaken white British people as the largest ethnic group in Tower Hamlets, according to the 2011 census which was published today.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that 32.3 per cent of residents in the borough (81,377 people) define themselves as “Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi” compared to the 31.18 per cent (79,231 people) who said they were “White: English/Welsh/Scottish/British”.

In terms of population generally, the borough is the fastest growing in the country with 254,000 residents. That’s a whopping 29.6 per cent increase from the last census results in 2001.

And the borough is crowded. The average ward size in England and Wales is 6,543 people, but all wards in Tower Hamlets are at least twice the national average - Millwall has a population of 23,083.

Shadwell is the most densely populated ward in the borough with 174.7 residents per hectare, while Bow East has just 79.5.

See next week’s Advertiser for a detailed breakdown of the figures.