Equality, diversity and inclusion

It is illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of their race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), ethnic or national origins.

Southwark's statistics

Southwark has over 280 ethnic groups: White (51%), Black (25%) and Asian (10%) ethnicities are most common.

• Census 2021 recorded 282 different ethnicities among Southwark residents
• just over half (51%) of Southwark’s population were from a White ethnic background (158,000 residents)
  • one third (36%) were White British, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish, similar to London levels (37%), and lower than 2011 Southwark levels (40%)
• one quarter (25%) of Southwark residents were from Black, Black British, Caribbean, or African backgrounds (a total of about 77,300)
  • over one sixth (16%, 48,300) reported African ethnicity  
  • 1 in 17 (6%, 18,200) reported Caribbean ethnicity
  • 1 in 25 (4%, 10,800) reported other Black ethnicities
• 1 in 10 (10%) Southwark residents were from an Asian or Asian British background (30,500),
  • Chinese ethnicity was the most commonly reported (3%, 8,400)
• 1 in 14 (7%, 22,000) Southwark residents were from mixed or multiple ethnicities
• about 1 in 30 (3%, 9,200) residents reported Hispanic or Latin American ethnicities
• national identity was most commonly British or English (70%, 215,000)
  • most common non-UK national identity in 2021 was Spanish (2%). In 2011 it was Nigerian.
• main language was most commonly English (four fifths, 79%, 244,000) or Spanish (one fifth, 20%, 13,000 (double the number in 2011))
  • Portuguese (1%, 3,600) and French (1%, 3,500) were next most frequent
  • of those without English as their main language, one fifth (19%, 10,200) could not speak English well

How we promote equality

Using data available from a range of sources allows us to identify and address some of the issues faced by specific racial and ethnic groups. 

Hypertension risk

The risk of hypertension (high blood pressure) is higher in Black Caribbean and Black African ethnic groups.

This is particularly relevant for Southwark as our biggest ethnic minority group is Black African and Caribbean.

In response to this the Men’s Health team, who offer community based blood pressure testing, focus on specific groups including black men from deprived communities.

Diabetes risk

People from black and minority ethnic groups, including South Asian, African, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern, are up to 6 times more likely to develop diabetes.

Southwark GP surgeries are promoting a programme to identify those at high risk. 

They're offering prevention programmes, like smoking cessation, exercise referral and the Southwark obesity strategy.

Supporting residents

To help we:

• award grants to a range of local community groups working to support specific ethnic minorities
• support a variety of ethnic and culturally specific events throughout the year
• have included ‘Latin American’ in our ethnic monitoring to recognise a significant population in Southwark