Ethnicity
Walsall is a culturally diverse town where people of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi background form the largest minority ethnic groups. White British comprise the largest ethnic group at approximately 67.4% of the borough population, and more broadly the wider White ethnic category at 71.4%. Minority ethnic groups have seen substantial increases, now accounting for 32.6% (1 in 3) of Walsall's population, compared to 23.1% (1 in 4) a decade prior in 2011.
The following charts visualise this in greater detail.
Geographic Distribution
Minority ethnic groups are highly concentrated in certain parts of the borough, predominantly in Southern and Central Walsall (wards including Pleck, Palfrey St. Matthews, Paddock and southern Birchills Leamore).
Access and the appropriate provision of services depend upon a well-informed understanding of the specific needs of these different communities.
The following maps visualise this in greater detail.
Ethnicity Ward Dashboard
Ethnic composition varies substantially when viewed by Walsall's individual Wards. In Palfrey, for instance, at 61%, the Asian population is the largest ethnic group, with Pakistani the largest Asian ethnicity: 4,262 people residing there (25.6%, or 1 in 4 people). White British (22.8%), Indian (16.3%) and Bangldeshi (16.1%) are the other major ethnicities residing in Palfrey. Much of Southern Walsall is similarly mixed.
Conversely Pelsall has the largest White British population, comprising 92.6% of the population (10,586 people): only 1 in 15 residents are of another ethnicity. Pelsall is, to a lesser extent, more representative of the eastern Wards within the borough.
These variances mean that Wards are best viewed separately: the following dashboard allows you to explore this by selecting a specific ward or ethnicity, filtering the visualisations accordingly. The data is from the 2021 Census, sourced from the Office for National Statistics, and details the ethnic composition of the borough as of March 2021.
Country of Birth
The number of non-UK born residents in Walsall increased to 41,962 residents: by approximately 5% increased share of the local population between 2011-2021 Censuses, from 9.9% (1 in 10 people) to 14.8% in 2021 (1 in 7). This was a relatively larger increase than the 3.7% between 2001-2011.
The largest increase from a single nation was seen amongst residents born in India, at 2,157 (+29% since 2011). Asia remains the largest continent of non-UK born residents, with an additional 1,372 Pakistan and 781 Bangladesh born residents since 2011.
However, the Eastern European born population has seen the largest proportional growth over the preceding decade, with newly emergent communities from Romania increasing from 50 residents in 2011 to 2,206 in 2021 (a 4312% increase) and Poland with 3,616 residents (+121% compared to 2011). Other notable increases are those from Italy (+1,243, to 1,407 residents) and Nigeria (+1,126, to 1,368).
The infographic below displays this information, and more, in greater detail.
