Poles biggest minority in Wales
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
04.03.2014 16:05
Research by Oxford University has found that the number of Polish-born residents in Wales increased by twenty-fold in ten years, with Poles now the largest minority in the country.
Cardiff. Photo: wikipedia
The study by the university's Migration Observatory examines statistics from Wales' 2011 census, drawing comparison with its 2001 predecessor.
“In fact, the number of Polish born residents in Wales increased by 1,163% from 1,427 in 2001 to 18,023 in 2011,” a statement by the Migration Observatory confirmed.
Poland's accession to the EU in 2004 provided the catalyst for the increase.
According to the 2011 census, Poles accounted for 10.7 percent of Wales' non-UK born population.
The statistics reveal that Wales' foreign-born population rose by 82% in ten years.
Proportionally, this was a higher increase than in England (61%) and Northern Ireland (72%), but lower than in Scotland (93%).
Nevertheless, in spite of the leap, Wales's number of foreign-born residents is still proportionally smaller in relation to the locally born community than in other countries within the UK.
In London alone, foreign-born residents reached 35 percent of the city's population in 2011.
Meanwhile, England's south west region still has a higher proportion of foreign-born immigrants than Wales, with 7.65 percent compared with Wales' 5.48 percent. (nh)
Source: migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk