British Pakistanis or Pakistani Britons are Britons or residents of the United Kingdom with ancestral roots in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani descent, Pakistani-born people who have migrated to the UK and those of Pakistani origin from overseas who migrated to the UK.
The UK hosts the largest Pakistani community in Europe, with over 1.6 million people recorded in the 2021 Census. British Pakistanis are the second-largest ethnic minority group in the United Kingdom and the second-largest subgroup of British Asians. They also form one of the largest populations within the global Pakistani diaspora, comparable in size to the Pakistani community in the UAE.
Migration from regions that now form Pakistan began in small numbers during the nineteenth century under British Raj, including soldiers in the British Indian Army and workers across the British Empire. Large-scale migration followed the Second World War and the Partition of India in 1947, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s, facilitated by Pakistan’s membership of the Commonwealth. Many migrants were recruited to address labour shortages in industries such as textiles, steel, engineering, manufacturing, while others, including doctors, contributed to the development of the National Health Service.
The British Pakistani population has grown from around 10,000 in 1951 to over 1.6 million in 2021. The majority reside in England, with significant communities in Scotland and smaller populations in Wales and Northern Ireland. In 2021, there were 1,587,819 Pakistanis in England and Wales (2.7% of the population). Scotland recorded 72,871 (1.3%) in 2022, while Northern Ireland recorded 1,596 people (less than 0.1%).
The community is predominantly Muslim; around 93% of Pakistanis in England and Wales identified as Muslim in the 2021 Census.
While the community has historically experienced higher relative poverty rates, more recent data indicates progress in areas such as homeownership, where they have among the highest rates in England and Wales.
History
Pre-Independence
The earliest period of Asian migration to Britain has not been ascertained. It is known that Romani (Gypsy) groups such as the Romanichal and Kale arrived in the region during the Middle Ages, having originated from what is now North India and Pakistan and travelled westward to Europe via Southwest Asia around 1000 CE, intermingling with local populations over several centuries.
Immigration from what is now Pakistan to the United Kingdom began long before Pakistan's independence in 1947. Muslim immigrants from Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh, the North-West Frontier and Balochistan and other parts of South Asia, arrived in the British Isles as early as the mid-seventeenth century as employees of the East India Company, typically as lashkars and sailors in British port cities. These immigrants were often the first Asians to be seen in British port cities and were initially perceived as indolent due to their reliance on Christian charities. Despite this, some of the early Pakistani immigrants married local white British women because there were few South Asian women in Britain.
During the colonial era, Asians continued coming to Britain as seamen, traders, students, domestic workers, cricketers, political officials and visitors and some of them settled in the region. South Asian seamen sometimes settled after ill- treatment or being abandoned by ship masters.
Many early Pakistanis came to the UK as scholars and studied at major British institutions, before later returning to British India. An example of such a person is Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah came to the UK in 1892 and began an apprenticeship at Graham's Shipping and Trading Company. After completing his apprenticeship, Jinnah joined Lincoln's Inn, where he trained as a barrister. At 19, he became the youngest person from South Asia to be called to the bar in Britain.
British interwar period
Most early Pakistani settlers (then part of the British Raj) and their families moved from port towns to the Midlands, as Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, many expatriates mainly hailing from the city of Mirpur worked in munitions factories in Birmingham. After the war, most of these early settlers stayed on in the region and took advantage of an increase in the number of jobs. These settlers were later joined by their families.
In 1932, the Indian National Congress survey of 'all Indians outside India' (of which Pakistani regions were then a part) estimated that there were 7,128 Indians in the United Kingdom.
There were 832,500 Muslim Indian soldiers in 1945; most of these recruits were from what is now Pakistan. These soldiers fought alongside the British Army during the First and Second World Wars, particularly in the former during the Western Front and in the latter, during the Battle of France, the North African Campaign and the Burma Campaign. Many contributed to the war effort as skilled labourers, including as assembly-line workers in the aircraft factory at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, which produced Spitfire fighter aircraft. Most returned to South Asia after their service, although many of these former soldiers returned to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s to fill labour shortages.
Post-Independence
Following the Second World War, the decline of the British Empire and the independence of Pakistan in 1947, migration from Pakistan to the United Kingdom increased significantly, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s. Many migrants were part of post-partition movements, including those who had first relocated to Pakistan from India before moving to Britain as secondary migrants. Migration was facilitated by Pakistan’s membership of the Commonwealth of Nations and active recruitment by British employers to address labour shortages in key industries.
As Commonwealth citizens, Pakistanis were granted broad civic rights and found employment primarily in the textile industries of Lancashire and Yorkshire, manufacturing in the West Midlands, and in car production and food processing in towns such as Luton and Slough. Many worked night shifts and in lower-paid or less desirable roles.
A significant proportion of migrants originated from Mirpur in Azad Kashmir following the construction of the Mangla Dam in the late 1950s, which displaced thousands of people. Around 5,000 displaced individuals migrated to Britain, supported in part by compensation schemes and assistance linked to the British contractors involved in the project. Migration also continued from other regions, particularly Punjab, contributing to the growth of settled communities across the Midlands and northern England, as well as areas of London such as Southall.
During the 1960s, a growing number of educated Pakistanis, including teachers, doctors and engineers, migrated to the UK, often settling in London due to wider employment opportunities. Large numbers of medical professionals were recruited directly into the National Health Service, where they formed a significant part of the workforce. By the late 1960s, labour migration began to decline.
Additional migration flows included people from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and South Asians expelled from East Africa, particularly from Uganda in 1972 under the regime of Idi Amin. Immigration controls introduced through the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and the Immigration Act 1971 restricted primary migration, although family reunification remained permitted.
Early Pakistani migrants often intended to return home, but this pattern shifted towards permanent settlement, particularly after immigration restrictions and changing economic and social circumstances encouraged family reunification and long-term residence in Britain.
During the 1970s, deindustrialisation in the UK disproportionately affected communities concentrated in manufacturing regions, including many British Pakistanis in the Midlands and Northern England. In response, increasing numbers turned to self-employment; by 2004, around one in seven British Pakistani men worked as taxi drivers or chauffeurs.
While some studies have reported higher measured poverty rates within the community, outcomes vary and have changed over time. British Pakistanis have relatively high levels of homeownership in England and Wales, and are widely represented across sectors including business, self-employment and the professions. Measures of income and poverty may not fully reflect economic circumstances in all cases, particularly where earnings are variable or derived from self-employment.
Demographics
Population
According to the 2021 Census, Pakistanis in England and Wales enumerated 1,587,819 or 2.7% of the population. According to estimates by the Office for National Statistics, the number of people born in Pakistan living in the UK in 2021 was 456,000, which makes it the third most common country of birth in the UK.
The ten local authorities with the largest proportion of people who identified as Pakistani were: Pendle (25.59%), Bradford (25.54%), Slough (21.65%), Luton (18.26%), Blackburn with Darwen (17.79%), Birmingham (17.04%), Redbridge (14.18%), Rochdale (13.64%), Oldham (13.55%) and Hyndburn (13.16%). In Scotland, the highest proportion was in East Renfrewshire at 5.25%; in Wales, the highest concentration was in Newport at 3.01%; and in Northern Ireland, the highest concentration was in Belfast at 0.14%.
The Pakistan government's Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis estimates that 1.26 million Pakistanis eligible for dual nationality live in the UK, constituting well over half of the total number of Pakistanis in Europe. Up to 250,000 Pakistanis come to the UK each year, for work, to visit or other purposes. Likewise, up to 270,000 British citizens travel to Pakistan each year, mainly to visit family. Excluding British citizens of Pakistani descent, the number of individuals living in the UK with a Pakistani passport was estimated at 188,000 in 2017, making Pakistan the eighth most common non-British nationality in the UK.
The majority of British Pakistanis originate from the Azad Kashmir and Punjab regions, with a smaller number from other parts of Pakistan including Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan.
The cities or districts with the largest communities, by Pakistani ethnicity in the England and Wales 2021 census, are as follows: Birmingham (pop. 195,102), Bradford (139,553), Manchester (65,875), Kirklees (54,795), Redbridge (44,000) and Luton (41,143).
Historic
In the 2011 UK Census, 1,174,983 residents classified themselves as ethnically Pakistani (excluding people of mixed ethnicity), regardless of their birthplace; 1,112,212 of them lived in England. This represented an increase of 427,000 over the 747,285 residents recorded in the 2001 UK Census.
Demographer Ceri Peach has estimated the number of British Pakistanis in the 1951 to 1991 censuses. He back-projected the ethnic composition of the 2001 census to the estimated minority populations during previous census years. The results are as follows:
Population distribution
At the time of the 2021 Census, the local authorities with the largest proportion of British Pakistanis were Pendle (25.59%), Bradford (25.54%), Slough (21.65%), Luton (18.26%) and Blackburn with Darwen (17.79%). The distribution of people describing their ethnicity as Pakistani in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was as follows:
London
Greater London has the largest Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. The 2021 Census recorded 290,549 Pakistanis living in London. However, it only forms 3.3% of London's population, which is significantly lower than other British cities. The population is very diverse, with comparable numbers of Punjabis, Pashtuns and Muhajirs, and smaller communities of Sindhis and Balochs. This mix makes the Pakistani community of London more diverse than other UK communities, whereas a high proportion of Pakistani communities in Northern England came from Azad Kashmir.
The largest concentrations are in East London, especially in Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Newham and Barking and Dagenham. Significant communities can also be found in the boroughs of Ealing, Hounslow, and Hillingdon in West London and Merton, Wandsworth and Croydon in South London.
Birmingham
Birmingham has the second-largest Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. The 2021 Census recorded that there were 195,102 Pakistanis living in Birmingham, making up 17% of the city's total population.
The largest concentrations are in Sparkhill, Alum Rock, Small Heath and Sparkbrook.
Bradford
Bradford has the third-largest Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. The 2021 Census recorded 139,553 Pakistanis, making up 25.5% of the city's total population.
The largest concentrations are in Manningham, Toller, Bradford Moor, Heaton, Little Horton and Keighley.
Manchester
Manchester has the fourth-largest Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. The 2021 Census recorded 65,875 Pakistanis, making up 11.9% of the city's total population.
The largest concentrations are in Longsight, Cheetham Hill, Rusholme and Crumpsall.
In the wider area of Greater Manchester, there were 209,061 Pakistanis, making up 7.3% of the population. The towns of Oldham and Rochdale have significant Pakistani populations, at 13.5% and 13.6% respectively.
A significant number of Manchester-based Pakistani business families have moved down the A34 road to live in the affluent Heald Green area. The late Professor Pnina Werbner associated the suburban movement of Pakistani-origin Muslims in Manchester with the formation of "gilded ghettoes" in the sought-after commuter suburbs of Cheshire.
Luton
The 2021 Census recorded 41,143 Pakistanis in Luton, making up 18.3% of the total population.
The largest concentrations are in Bury Park, Dallow and Challney.
Glasgow
The 2022 Census recorded 30,912 Pakistanis in Glasgow, making up 4.98% of the city's total population.
There are large Pakistani communities throughout the city, notably in the Pollokshields area of South Glasgow, where there are said to be some 'high standard' Pakistani takeaways and Asian fabric shops.
Pakistanis also make up the largest 'visible' ethnic minority in Scotland, representing nearly one-third of the non-White ethnic minority population.
Languages
Most British Pakistanis speak English, and those who were born in the UK consider British English to be their first language. First-generation and recent immigrants speak Pakistani English. Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, is understood and spoken by many British Pakistanis at a native level, and is the fourth-most commonly spoken language in the UK. Some secondary schools and colleges teach Urdu for GCSEs and A Levels. Madrassas also offer it. According to Sajid Mansoor Qaisrani, Urdu language periodicals of the 1990s published in UK used to focus exclusively on South Asian issues, with no relevance to British society. Coverage of local British issues and problems of local Pakistanis in the UK used to be sparse. Beyond Pakistani youth's interest in identifying with their ethnicity and religious identity, Urdu was of little use to them in finding suitable employment opportunities.