What is the population of the Caribbean community?
The Black Caribbean population in England and Wales was 623,115 as reported in the 2021 census. The ‘White and Black Caribbean’ population was 513,400, resulting in a total population of 1,136,515 (this excludes any other mixed ethnicities). They account for 11.8% of the total ethnic population, according to the Office for National Statistics.
What is the age profile of the Caribbean population?
The age distribution of ‘Black Caribbeans’ (shown below) shows a relatively large population of 125,840 aged 50-59 in 2021, many of these will be the children of the large group of migrants who arrived in 1960 and 1961.
The Caribbean population is younger than the ‘White British’ (a definition used in the 2021 census) population, with relatively more youngsters and fewer older-aged:
Under 17s made up 29% of the Caribbean population in the 2021 census, compared to 19% for the ‘White British’ population
Over 70s made up 6% of the Caribbean population, as compared to 16% for the ‘White British’ population
114,000 West Indian migrants arrived in 1960 and 1961. If they were aged between 15 and 25 on arrival, then they would now be aged 78-88. But the size of the Black Caribbean population aged 80 and over in 2021 only numbered 34,045, highlighting the fading of the‘Windrush Generation’ through old age.
Where does the Caribbean population live?
London accounted for 43% of the Black Caribbean and ‘Mixed White and Black Caribbean’ population in 2019:
