Scottish Asians

Scottish Asians
Total population
212,022 – 3.9%
(2022 Census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Glasgow City68,793 – 11.1%
City of Edinburgh44,070 – 8.6%
Aberdeen City13,091 – 5.8%
East Renfrewshire9,156 – 9.5%
Languages
British English · Asian languages
Related ethnic groups
British Asians

Scottish Asian (Asian-Scottish or Asian-Scots) is a term defined within the 2011 Scottish census as including people of Bangladeshi, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani or other Asian ancestry resident in Scotland.[2] Their parents or grandparents are normally Asian immigrants. It can also refer to people who are of dual Scottish and Asian ancestry. It combines Asian ethnic background with Scottish national identity.

In traditional British usage, the term Asian did not normally include East Asians, who were referred by their respective national origins (e.g. Chinese, Japanese and others) or collectively as "Oriental", which similar to Scotch can be viewed of as pejorative when applied to people.[3] By contrast, in traditional North American usage the term Asian did not normally include South Asians but focused on East and Southeast Asians, particularly Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. These frames of reference reflect different migration patterns.

Demographics

Historical Population
YearPop.±%
199147,456—    
200171,317+50.3%
2011140,678+97.3%
2022 212,022+50.7%
Source: National Records of Scotland

The 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2022 censuses recorded the following ethnic groups:

Ethnic Group 1991[4] 2001[5] 2011[6] 2022[1]
Number % Number % Number % Number %
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Indian 10,050 0.20% 15,037 0.30% 32,706 0.62% 52,951 0.97%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Pakistani 21,192 0.42% 31,793 0.63% 49,381 0.93% 72,871 1.34%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Bangladeshi 1,134 0.02% 1,981 0.04% 3,788 0.07% 6,934 0.13%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Chinese 10,476 0.21% 16,310 0.32% 33,706 0.64% 47,075 0.87%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Asian Other 4,604 0.09% 6,196 0.12% 21,097 0.40% 32,187 0.59%
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Total 47,456 0.95% 71,317 1.41% 140,678 2.66% 212,022 3.90%
Total Population in Scotland 4,998,567 100% 5,062,011 100% 5,295,403 100% 5,439,842 100%

2011 census

In addition to ethnicity, the 2011 census asked about national identity.[7]

  • 34 per cent of all minority ethnic groups felt they had some Scottish identity either on its own or in combination with another identity. This ranged from 60 per cent for people from a mixed background and 50 per cent for those from a Pakistani ethnic group, to 21 per cent for those from an African ethnic group. This compared to 83 per cent for all people in Scotland.[7]
  • 62 per cent of the total population stated ‘Scottish identity only’ as their national identity, of which 98 per cent stated their ethnicity as ‘White: Scottish’.[7]
  • 18 per cent of the total population stated ‘Scottish and British identity only’ as their national identity, of which 97 per cent stated their ethnicity as ‘White: Scottish’.[7]
  • 8 per cent of the total population stated their national identity as ‘British identity only’. Of these, 49 per cent stated their ethnicity as ‘White: Scottish’, 38 per cent were ‘White: Other British’, and 8 per cent were ‘Asian’.[7]
  • 4 per cent of the total population stated their national identity as ‘Other identity only’ (i.e. no UK identity), 32 per cent of those were ‘White: Other White’, 22 per cent were ‘Asian’ and 21 per cent were ‘White: Polish’.[7]

South Asian communities

Map of Glasgow, coloured according to % of residents stated as Asian in the 2011 UK Census.

Scotland's South Asian population of more than 80,000 is mostly from Indian and Pakistani background. The majority are adherents of the Hindu, Sikh and Islamic faiths and are concentrated around urban areas, such as Greater Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. However, there are Asian communities in places as small as Stornoway and as far north as Aberdeen.[8]

Notable Scottish Asians

Arts and entertainment

Business

Politics

Sport

Other

  • Mohammed Atif Siddique, convicted of terrorism offences
  • Mamta Singhal, winner of the Women Engineering Society Prize - Young Women Engineer of the Year 2007; finalist for Global MBA student of the Year 2008

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion - Chart data". Scotland's Census. National Records of Scotland. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024. Alternative URL 'Search data by location' > 'All of Scotland' > 'Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion' > 'Ethnic Group'
  2. ^ "Scotland's New Official Ethnicity Classification" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  3. ^ "'Oriental': Rugs, Not People". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  4. ^ "1991 census - local base statistics". Nomis: Official Census and Labour Market Statistics. Retrieved 14 June 2023. Tables L01 to L18: Demographic and economic characteristics > L06 Ethnic group
  5. ^ "Analysis of Ethnicity in the 2001 Census - Summary Report - gov.scot". www.gov.scot. Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  6. ^ "Scotland's Census". www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Census 2011: Detailed characteristics on Ethnicity, Identity, Language and Religion in Scotland – Release 3A". Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2018-04-24. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 Archived 2017-06-28 at the Wayback Machine. © Crown copyright.
  8. ^ "Stornoway's not racist, say Asians". The Times. 8 October 2006. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  9. ^ "First Asian MSP goes to Holyrood". 4 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019 – via news.bbc.co.uk.