FOI Ref: FOI/2023/4741
You asked
I would like to know the ethnicity break down of the retired population in the United Kingdom as of 2022.
If a detailed ethnicity break down is possible, that would be great. I am interested in the following ethnicities, but my interest is not limited to just these:
- English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British
- Irish
- Gypsy or Irish Traveller
- Roma
- Other white background (not polish)
- Polish
- White and black Caribbean
- White and black African White and Indian
- White and Pakistani
- White and Bangladeshi
- White and Chinese
- White and other Asian background
- Other Mixed or Multiple background
- Indian
- Pakistani
- Bangladeshi
- Chinese Any other Asian background
- Caribbean
- African background
- Any other black, black British or Caribbean background
- Arab
- Other ethnic group
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding ethnic group statistics for the population of retirement age.
The Census for England and Wales was conducted by ONS in March 2021. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) conducted separate Censuses in March 2022 and March 2021 respectively. We are working closely with UK census offices to publish comparable data from across the UK, but currently, this information for the UK as a whole is not held. More details on our plans for UK data can be found via the following link: Get more information about how we are working with the other UK census offices and our plans for UK census outputs.
However, you may find the following information for England and Wales helpful.
Official population estimates for economic activity by ethnic group are derived from census data. Economic activity includes estimates of the population who are retired. This information from Census 2011 data are freely available from the Nomis website, and the relevant table can be found via the following link: LC6201EW (Economic activity by ethnic group by age) - Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk).
Estimates on economic activity by ethnic group from Census 2021 have not yet been published. This information will be available in Phase 2 of the Census 2021 release plans as part of the Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion analysis plans - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). This information will be published within the "Ethnicity: education, employment, health and housing" analysis.
In the meantime, should you wish to use age as a proxy for working age, you may be interested in our recent publication: Ethnic group by age and sex, England, and Wales. This release provides information on the age and sex breakdowns of ethnic groups in 2021, including how this has changed since 2011, down to local authority level.
Alongside this article, we published the following datasets:
1. Ethnic group by age and sex in England and Wales. This provides data on 19 tick-box ethnic groups, by age, sex, and age and sex.
2. Detailed ethnic group by age and sex in England and Wales. This provides data on 287 ethnic groups by age, sex, and age and sex. Table 2 and 3 in this dataset includes information on all the ethnic groups you have requested data for. You can find out how write-in responses are included in the detailed classification for ethnic group in our blog 'How am I represented in Census 2021 data?'
When accessing our files, please read the 'notes, terms and conditions' contained within them.
Data derived from the census are particularly useful when considering more detailed population groups than the 19 ethnic groups by age, sex, and region. It is important to note that these estimates will not reflect change since census day in 2021.