Bangladeshi Community in Birmingham

Where they come from

Most Bangladeshi families in Birmingham trace their roots to the Sylhet region in the north-east of Bangladesh, a land of tea gardens and rivers. The first arrivals were often seamen and factory workers, and families followed from the 1970s onwards, settling in Aston, Lozells, Handsworth, Small Heath and Bordesley Green.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 48,401 Birmingham residents described their ethnic group as Bangladeshi or British Bangladeshi; and 18,966 people living in the city had been born in Bangladesh.

Working for Birmingham

Bangladeshi families built much of Britain's curry trade, and many restaurants in Birmingham are Bangladeshi-run. The younger generation has moved into medicine, nursing, teaching, law, accountancy, IT and public service, and Bangladeshi-heritage entrepreneurs run businesses across the city.

Every community that has settled in Birmingham has helped to shape it. Newcomers have filled gaps in the workforce, opened shops and restaurants, and raised children who have gone on to become the city's doctors, teachers, engineers and entrepreneurs. The Bangladeshi community is part of that tradition of hard work and ambition, and of the city's own motto: Forward.

Culture and community life

Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year, and Ekushey, the day that honours those who died for the Bengali language in 1952, are marked with music and poetry. Eid brings families together, and Bengali food, from fish curry and rice to sweet pitha, is shared with friends and neighbours.

The story of the Bangladeshi community in Birmingham is still being written, by students, workers, parents and pensioners who call the city home. It is a story of hard work, friendship and quiet pride, and Birmingham is richer for it.