South Asian Community in Birmingham

Nearly a third of the city's people have roots in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal or Afghanistan, and their influence is felt in every part of city life.

Where they come from

South Asia includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives and Afghanistan. South Asians began arriving in Birmingham in large numbers in the 1950s and 1960s to work in factories and foundries, and families followed. Later arrivals came from East Africa, and today students and professionals continue to arrive.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 120,800 people living in the city had been born in South Asia; and 77,242 residents gave a South Asian language as their main language. Main language figures leave out the many bilingual residents who use English day to day, so the number who speak the language at home is higher still.

Working for Birmingham

South Asian Brummies work as GPs, consultants, pharmacists, dentists, teachers, engineers, lawyers, accountants, police officers and councillors, and South Asian businesses, from the Balti Triangle's restaurants to wholesalers and manufacturers, employ tens of thousands of people across the city.

Much of the work that keeps Birmingham moving happens out of sight: the night shift on a hospital ward, the early start on a building site, the plumber who fixes a boiler on a winter evening, the teaching assistant who helps a child learn to read. People from every community in the city do these jobs, and South Asian residents are part of that everyday effort to make Birmingham a better place to live.

Culture and community life

Eid, Diwali and Vaisakhi are celebrated across Birmingham, and the city's mosques, temples and gurdwaras are among its best-known buildings. The balti was created in Birmingham, bhangra has deep roots here, and South Asian weddings, fashion, cricket and cinema are part of everyday life.

Like so many of the communities that make up modern Birmingham, the South Asian community shows how a city can be home to many cultures at once. Its members are proud of where they come from, and just as proud to be Brummies.