Ethnic group

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

Total number of categories 22

Question 23 - What is your ethnic group?
 Choose ONE section from A to F, then tick ONE box which best describes your ethnic group or background

• A - White
  • Scottish
  • Other British
  • Irish
  • Polish
  • Gypsy / Traveller
  • Roma
  • Showman / Showwoman
  • Other white ethnic group, please write in
• B Mixed or multiple ethnic groups
  • Any mixed or multiple ethnic groups, please
    write in
• C Asian, Scottish Asian or British Asian
  • Pakistani, Scottish Pakistani or British
    Pakistani
  • Indian, Scottish Indian or British Indian
  • Bangladeshi, Scottish Bangladeshi or British
    Bangladeshi
  • Chinese, Scottish Chinese or British Chinese
  • Other, please write in
• D African, Scottish African or British African
  • Please write in (for example, NIGERIAN,
    SOMALI)
• E Caribbean or Black
  • Please write in (for example, SCOTTISH
    CARIBBEAN, BLACK SCOTTISH)
• F Other ethnic group
  • Arab, Scottish Arab or British Arab
  • Other, please write in (for example, SIKH, JEWISH)

This information helps public bodies meet statutory obligations relating to race equality. It is also used for resource allocation and to develop and monitor policy on improving the life-chances for disadvantaged groups, including many ethnic minority groups.

The statistics provide a better understanding of communities and are used for the government-wide race equality and community cohesion strategy, which seeks to improve race equality outcomes in areas such as housing, education, health & Criminal Justice for all groups across society.

Additionally, the Ministry of Defence uses the information to provide a benchmark against which to measure ethnic minority recruitment and representation in the armed forces.

Whilst the main ethnic group categories have not changed from the question asked in Census 2011, some of the detailed response options and write-in prompts for Scotland's Census 2022 were changed based on stakeholder engagement and subsequent question testing. More information on this is available in our developing census questions webpage.

In 2022, only one tick box was available for African or Caribbean/Black ethnicities. In 2011 there were two (for African) and three (for Caribbean/Black).  This has led to large increases in ‘Other African’ and ‘Other Caribbean/Black’ between 2011 and 2022. We advise that users compare the sum of all African or Caribbean/Black categories when comparing 2011 and 2022 data. 

There were also some changes made to the tick-boxes under the White category since the 2011 census. This included the addition of a tick-box for showman/showwoman and one for Roma. These changes mean that the data for Gypsy/Traveller are not fully comparable with data from the 2011 census. This is because many people in the showman/showwoman ethnic group and some in the Roma category in 2022 may have ticked Gypsy/Traveller in 2011.

Following feedback from stakeholders, the 2022 census questionnaire included a tick box for the ethnicity ‘White: Roma’. During quality assurance, we found a higher proportion of individuals born in Italy identifying as Roma than expected. Around 36.5% of the Roma population reported their county of birth as Italy, compared with only 19.1% born in Romania, the second most common country of birth. In total, this amounts to 1,200 people born in Italy out of the total 3,200 Roma population. Also, the distribution of Roma by local authority was different to our expectations of the Roma population being highly concentrated in Glasgow City. Only 28.1% of the Roma population are in Glasgow City, fewer than the 28.3% in City of Edinburgh. We believe the box may have been ticked in error by individuals born in Rome, Italy but cannot conclusively determine what proportion of individuals may have inadvertently ticked the wrong ethnicity, as some are likely to be people who would be considered part of the Roma ethnic group. We have decided to publish this data despite this quality issue, but we recommend that users consider this when interpreting results for the Roma population.

The question asked in England & Wales (2021) was similar, however the response options were presented differently. The question in England & Wales asked:

"What is your ethnic group?

Choose one section from A to E, then tick one box to best describe your ethnic group or background

• A - White
  • English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British
  • Irish
  • Polish
  • Gypsy or Irish Traveller
  • Roma
  • Any other white background, write in
• B Mixed or multiple ethnic groups
  • White and Black Caribbean
  • White and Black African
  • White and Asian
  • Any other Mixed or Multiple background, write in
• C Asian or Asian British
  • Indian
  • Pakistani
  • Bangladeshi
  • Chinese
  • Any other Asian background, write in
• D Black, Black British, Caribbean or African
  • Caribbean
  • African background, write in
  • Any other Black, Black British or Caribbean background, write in
• E Other Ethnic Background
  • Arab
  • Any other ethnic group, write in"

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

The Ethnicity question has 6 broad categories from which the user would select one and then pick a specific ethnicity within that category, or fill in the text box underneath whilst ticking the “other” box. Responses are assigned codes based on the ethnicity classification codes.

The categories in this classification may have been combined within the tables based on the ETHNICID_S hierarchy.

15: What is your ethnic group?

Choose ONE selection from A to F, then tick ONE box which best describes your ethnic group of background.

A White

• Scottish
• Other British
• Irish
• Gypsy / Traveller
• Polish
• Other white ethnic group, please write in

B Mixed or multiple ethnic groups

• Any mixed or multiple ethnic groups, please write in

C Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British

• Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British
• Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British
• Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish or Bangladeshi British
• Chinese, Chinese Scottish or Chinese British
• Other, please write in

D African

• African, African Scottish or African British
• Other, please write in

E Caribbean or Black

• Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish or Caribbean British
• Black, Black Scottish or Black British
• Other, please write in

F Other ethnic group

• Arab, Arab Scottish or Arab British
• Other, please write in

This information helps public bodies meet statutory obligations relating to race equality. It is also used for resource allocation and to develop and monitor policy on improving the life-chances for disadvantaged groups, including many ethnic minority groups.

The statistics provide a better understanding of communities and are used for the government-wide race equality and community cohesion strategy, which seeks to improve race equality outcomes in areas such as housing, education, health & Criminal Justice for all groups across society.

Additionally, the Ministry of Defence uses the information to provide a benchmark against which to measure ethnic minority recruitment and representation in the armed forces.

England and Wales (2011)

What is your ethnic group?

Choose ONE section from A to E, then tick ONE box to best describe your ethnic group or background.

A White

• English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British
• Irish
• Gypsy or Irish Traveller
• Any other White backgroundp, write in

B Mixed/multiple ethnic groups

• White and Black Caribbean
• White and Black African
• White and Asian
• Any other Mixes/multiple ethnic background, write in

C Asian/Asian British

• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• Chinese,
• Any other Asian background, write in

D Black/African/Caribbean/Black British

• African
• Carribbean
• Any other Black/African/Caribbean background, write in

E Other ethnic group

• Arab
• Any other ethnic group, write in     

Scotland (2001)

What is your ethnic group?

Choose ONE section from A to E, then the appropriate box to indicate your cultural background.

A White

• Scottish
• Other British
• Irish
• Any other White background, please write in

B Mixed 

• Any mixed background, please write in

C Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British

• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• Chinese
• Any other Asian background, please write in

D Black, Black Scottish or Black British

• Caribbean
• African
• Any other Black background, please write in

E Other ethnic group

• Any other background, please write in

Changes to the question:

• Colour terms “White” and “Black” are retained, because testing showed that an ethnic classification based only on geography can cause confusion
• Under the “White” category, new tick boxes are provided for “English”, “Welsh”, “Northern Irish”, “British”, “Gypsy/Traveller” and “Polish”
• The “Mixed” category is re-termed “Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups”
• The “Black, Black Scottish or Black British” category is re-termed “African, Caribbean or Black”. A new tick box is added for “Black, Black Scottish or Black British” to give respondents the option to identify in this way if they wish. People who do not wish to identify as “Black” will not be required to do so and will be able to choose an “African, African Scottish or African British” or “Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish or Caribbean British” tick box or to write-in their response
• Tick boxes under the “Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British” and “African, Caribbean or Black” category are re-worded to add references to “Scottish” and “British” e.g. “Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British”, “African, African Scottish or African British”
• A tick box is added in the “Other Ethnic Group” category for people who are “Arab”

This question records each person's perceived ethnic group and cultural background. Although the questions differ between the different parts of the UK, the same detailed codes are used across the UK to code the write-in responses. In standard output the most detailed classification used is 16 groups (England and Wales), 14 groups (Scotland) and 12 groups (Northern Ireland). The full list of categories will be available for commissioned output.

Total number of categories 126