Britain in Statistics

Although Benjamin Disraeli once commented that 'there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics', I personally love statistics and, if used correctly, they can be an invaluable tool in understanding and assessing a country. So I've done a bit of research and come up with a few interesting facts and figures about the United Kingdom. (These data are as up-to-date as possible and have been taken from the British National Statistics website, the CIA World Factbook and the European Union website).

POPULATION AND WEALTH

Just as the USA's population recently passed the 300-million mark, the most recent census has revealed that the population of the UK has surpassed 60 million for the first time:

Population: UK - 60.2m (England - 50.4m, Scotland - 5.1m, Wales - 3.0m, Northern Ireland - 1.7m)

As well as growing, Britain's population is also aging:

Percantage of population by age group: 0-15 - 19%, 16-64 - 65%, 65+ - 16%

In terms of wealth, the average Briton is roughly on a par with citizens of other developed EU countries and much better off than people from the new member states, although he lags well behind the Americans:

GDP per capita (by purchasing power parity): USA - $41,800, UK - $30,000, France - $29,000, Sweden - $29,800, Poland - $13,300

ETHNICITY

While people often portray Britain as an exceptionally multi-ethnic society, in fact many other developed countries have similar or even higher percentages of their populations made up of ethnic minorities. In the UK 92.1% of the population is white, but the USA (81.7%) and Germany (91.5%) both have a lower proportion of white people. By means of comparison, Japan (99%) is extremely ethnically homogenous, while Poland, which has yet to experience any influx of immigrants, is 96.7% ethnic Polish. In Russia, where there has been a recent spate of racist attacks and with Putin's government encouraging nationalistic feeling, just 79.8% of the population is ethnically Russian.

The exact ethnic break down of the UK is:

White - 92.1%, Black - 2.0%, Indian - 1.8%, Pakistani - 1.3%, Mixed - 1.2%, Chinese - 0.4%, Other - 1.2%

Unemployment statistics indicate that Britain still has a lot to do to ensure that these ethnic groups can stand on an equal economic footing:

Unemployment rates of men by ethnic group: Black Caribbean - 14%, Black African - 13%, Bangladeshi - 13%, Pakistani - 11%, Chinese - 11%, Indian - 7%, White British - 4%

However, when it comes to education, the children of certain ethnic groups seems to excel while others lag behind:

Attainment of five or more GSCE grades of A* to C by ethnic group: Chinese - 74%, Indian - 67%, White British - 52%, Bangladeshi - 48%, Pakistani - 45%, Black African - 43%, Black Caribbean - 36%.

While recent events have seen a focus on Britain's Asian community and calls to end the perceived social and economic injustices which drive many young Muslims to extremism, it must not be forgotten that those of Caribbean and African descent are also in need of attention.

RELIGION

The latest census shows Britain's religious map looking like this:

Christian - 72%, No religion - 15%, Choose not to say - 8%, Muslim - 3%, Hindu - 1%, Sikhs - 0.6%, Jews - 0.5%, Buddhists - 0.3%

People often talk of Britain's large Muslim community, and to a certain extent they are correct. In the USA Muslims make up just 1% of the population and in Canada 1.9%. Although in Germany 3.7% of the population are Muslim, most of these are of Turkish descent and therefore are seen as less likely to be drawn towards extremism. It also seems that worries about a lack of economic integration of the Muslim community in Britain seem to be well-ground:

Unemployment rates of men by religious group: Muslim - 13%, Sikh - 7%, Hindu - 5%, Christian - 4%, Jewish - 3%

Religion in Britain though has in general become less important in the daily lives of its citizens, as the latest EU date shows:

People attending a religious service at least once a month: Poland - 75.5%, Ireland - 67%, Greece - 54.5%, Italy - 44%, Spain - 29%, Germany - 20%, UK - 18.5%, France - 14%, Sweden - 10.5%

TOURISM AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

While the expansion of the EU and a plethora of budget airlines have changed the holiday patterns of the British, the traditional, sunny destinations remain popular:

Chosen holiday destination: Spain - 28%, France - 17%, USA - 6%, Greece - 5.8%, Italy - 5%

Meanwhile, after a post-9/11 dip in transatlantic holidaying, American tourists' dollars are once again boosting the British economy:

Foreign visitors to the UK: American - 13%, French - 12%, German - 11%, Irish - 9.5%, Dutch - 6%

While the right-wing press in Britain would often like to make out that the country is the major target for resource-sapping asylum seekers, statistics indicate this isn't quite the full story:

Asylum seekers (per 1,000 of host population): Cyprus - 11.0, Sweden - 2.6, Slovakia - 2.1, France - 1.1, UK - 0.7, EU average - 0.6, Germany - 0.4, Italy - 0.1, Spain - 0.1

Of course these figures are affected by the size of the population of the country, but is is interesting to see that Britain, Spain and Italy, often portrayed as the asylum seekers' prime targets, are so low in the rankings. Slovakia, it seems, also has an asylum problem I wasn't previously aware of!!