Turkish population in the UK

FOI REF: FOI-2024-1996

You asked

I am seeking statistical information regarding the Turkish population in the UK.

Specifically, I am interested in the following:

1. The total number of Turkish individuals currently residing in the United Kingdom.
2. Identification of cities with the highest Turkish population, along with corresponding population figures.
3. Details on the areas within London that boast the highest concentration of Turkish residents, along with the respective population counts.

We said

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request about Turkish individuals residing in the UK. 

The best source of data to answer your questions are the 2021 censuses in England & Wales and Northern Ireland and the 2022 census in Scotland. 

We can provide Census 2021 data for England and Wales. You would need to contact the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and National Records of Scotland for data about the censuses in Northern Ireland and Scotland respectively. 

1) The total number of Turkish individuals currently residing in England and Wales.  

As this topic can be perceived in a number of ways; we have provided data for country of birth, ethnic group and national identity. Please see the attached tables: 

TS012 - Country of birth (England and Wales) 

Main Language by Age and Country of birth 

Main Language by Age and National Identity 

2) Identification of cities with the highest Turkish population, along with corresponding population figures. 

Standard ONS datasets are constrained to statutory boundaries. As villages, towns and cities do not necessarily have statutory boundaries we construct tables for built-up areas (previously known as 'urban areas') to cover areas people recognise as 'villages, towns' and 'cities'.  

The Census 2021 data published for Built Up Areas provides a country of birth breakdown by Europe: EU countries, Europe: United Kingdom and Non-EU countries (including British Overseas)), so does not provide data for the Turkish population of cities. 

The information you have requested is available through our bespoke analysis services. Such services are subject to legal frameworks, resources and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there will be a charge for this work, please see our charging policy for further information. 

As this information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies. 

3) Details on the areas within London that boast the highest concentration of Turkish residents, along with the respective population counts. 

We can provide census data for individual London Boroughs. As before, this topic can be perceived in a number of ways, so we have provided data for country of birth, ethnic group and national identity: 

TS012 - Country of birth (London Boroughs) 

Main Language by Age and Country of birth 

Main Language by Age and National Identity 

All univariate datasets were downloaded from the Nomis website; a service run by Durham University on behalf of the Office for National Statistics. 

You have also asked about the ‘mother tongue’ of Turkish children. Census asks a question about main language which can be cross-referenced with data for country of birth and age. This multivariate data can be downloaded using the Create a custom dataset tool.  

Custom dataset 1: Age (3 categories), country of birth (60 categories including Turkey) and main language (23 categories including Turkish).  

https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/create/filter-outputs/0f601496-4cfb-45e7-b4ac-28b180336208#get-data 

Custom dataset 2: Age (3 categories), national identity (73 categories including Turkey) and main language (23 categories including Turkish). 

The variable of ethnic group in the Create a custom dataset tool only has 20 categories so we cannot use the tool to show Turkish ethnic group combined with other variables. As before, you may be able to request bespoke analysis for this data if required.