Ugandans Resident in the UK

Release date:
20 January 2016

You asked

Currently how many persons of Ugandan descent, i.e. those that have completed a census entry stating that they are Ugandans, are resident in the United Kingdom at the present time. Please present the current projections for (2015 or 2016).

Qn.1 - A snapshot of the number of living persons of Ugandan descent, in the United Kingdom (since records begun). If categories are not easily broken down, please provide total figures in those cases.

Qn.2 - A snapshot of the number of living persons of Ugandan descent, who now live in the United Kingdom. If categories are not easily broken down, please provide total figures in those cases.

Qn.3 - A snapshot of the number of persons of Ugandan descent, who are no longer permanently resident in the United Kingdom.

We said

You have made a Freedom of Information Request asking for various statistics relating to the Ugandan population.

Having carefully considered your requirements we have been able to provide a series of tables from the 2011 Census for England and Wales which for the first time included a range of questions covering country of birth, year of arrival and passports held which we trust will assist with your enquiries.

As the Office for National Statistics is responsible for the Census in England and Wales we are not able to provide information for the United Kingdom. Statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland may be obtained from National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Unfortunately we are not able to provide more up-to-date information or details about persons no longer resident in the United Kingdom. Although the Office for National Statistics does produce population estimates and projections these only provide details of basic demographic characteristics (that is breakdowns by age and sex) for the usually resident population.

We trust that the information in the attached, specially commissioned tables, from the 2011 Census for England and Wales will be helpful:

  • Table CT0263 - the information is derived from responses to a series of questions on country of birth, ethnic group and year of arrival. Details relating to year of arrival cover the following periods - pre 1981, 1981 to 2000, 2001 to 2006 and 2007 to 2011.

  • Table CT0161 - provides breakdowns by country of birth, passports held and year of arrival.

Guidance on specific concepts and definitions used in the tables is set out below.

Usual Resident - the main population base for outputs from the 2011 Census is the usual resident population on census day (27th March 2011). For 2011 Census purposes, a usual resident is anyone who, on census day, was in the United Kingdom (UK) and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

Country of Birth - the country in which a person was born. The country of birth question included six tick box responses - one for each of the four parts of the UK, one for the Republic of Ireland and one for ‘Elsewhere’. Where a person ticked ‘Elsewhere’, they were asked to write in the current name of the country in which they were born. Responses are assigned codes based on the National Statistics Country Classification.

Ethnic Group - classifies people according to their own perceived ethnic group and cultural background.

Year of Arrival in the UK - is derived from the date that a person last arrived to live in the UK. Short visits away from the UK are not counted in determining the date that a person last arrived. Year of arrival is only applicable to usual residents who were not born in the UK. It does not include usual residents born in the UK who have emigrated and since returned; these are recorded in the category “Born in the UK”.

Passports Held - classify a person according to the passport or passports they held at the time of the 2011 Census. People were asked to indicate whether they held no passport, a United Kingdom passport, an Irish passport, or a passport from another country, and to write in the name of the other country if applicable. If more than one of the options were applicable people were asked to indicate all that applied.

In addition, we have provided links to two reports from the Census analysis series which may be of interest:

Further information on census definitions, variables and classifications can be accessed here.

The questions asked, definitions and classifications used in the census are subject to change and as a result it is not possible to produce comparable data from previous censuses. Further information on the range of outputs available for England and Wales may be obtained by contacting Census Customer Services at census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk. It is not necessary to make a Freedom of Information request.

Some of the information you have requested can be obtained from the customer services team of ONS Social Survey division. Special extracts and tabulations of Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) data are available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate).

As this information is already available to you via this route ONS considers that S21(1) applies to this request and the information does not have to be supplied under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. S21(1) is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest test needs to be applied.

UK Data Service

If you are able to do your own cross-tabulations you could purchase an anonymised Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) datasets from the UK Data Service. Details on costs and how to download the data can be found on their website:

Bespoke Commissioned Tables Service:

Downloads associated with request

Making an FOI request

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