The Pakistani community of London (also called Pakistani Londoners) consist of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

i emigrants and their descendants who have settled in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the capital city of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Pakistanis in London form the largest concentrated community of

British Pakistanis British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in ...

; immigration from regions which now form Pakistan predate Pakistan's

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. Pakistanis in London represent a diverse mixture of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

n subgroups including Punjabis,

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

, Muhajirs and smaller numbers of

Sindhis Sindhis ( sd, سنڌي Perso-Arabic: सिन्धी Devanagari; ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. After the partition of British Indian empire in 1947, man ...

and

Balochis The Baloch or Baluch ( bal, بلۏچ, Balòc) are an Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. There ar ...

among others. A substantial number of British Pakistanis who arrived to London in the 1960s were qualified teachers, doctors and engineers.

Demographics

Pakistani Londoners are mostly

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

who speak

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Punjabi amongst other languages. The main concentrations of Pakistani settlement in London are found in

Outer London Outer London is the name for the group of London boroughs that form a ring around Inner London. Together, the inner and outer boroughs form London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. These were areas that were not part of the County of Londo ...

with the boroughs of Redbridge,

Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the ...

and

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

accounting for nearly 40% of Londoners of Pakistani Descent.

Economics

The main industries which the Pakistani community of London are employed in include

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

and

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

(including self-owned grocery stores or newsagents). In 2001, 0.6% of businesses in London were owned by British Pakistanis. 20% of London's Pakistani population are self-employed. The percentage of London Pakistanis employed in managerial, senior official or professional occupations is 25%, which is lower than the London average of 32%. However it is higher than the percentage of London Bangladeshis (22%) but lower than Indians (34%) and Other Asians communities (31%). The unemployment rate for Pakistani males and females in London is lower than the national average British Pakistanis living in other regions of Britain. Pakistanis are the only ethnic group (along with White Britons) who have a lower worklessness rate in London than in other areas of Britain.

Social class

As of 2001, almost equal amounts of Pakistanis in Inner (45%) and Outer London (46%) were

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...

. Middle class by Borough London Pakistani Middle Class

Source: Between 1991 and 2001, out of the total growth in the London Pakistani population, 52.7% of the growth was in the middle classes. Growth in the middle class as a proportion of all growth Source: Growth in managers and professionals as a proportion was 22.8% between 1991 and 2001. Growth in managers and professionals as a proportion of all growth Source: There are stark social differences in Pakistanis living in different boroughs of London. Whilst in Brent and Harrow London Pakistanis are fairly prosperous and mostly Middle Class. The opposite is true in

, where they are mostly working class and more likely to suffer from deprivation. Several

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

Pakistanis also live in London, sometimes only for part of the year. The former presidents of Pakistan

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

and

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

currently reside in London.

Education

London Pakistanis GCSE Pass Rates 5 A-Cs by Borough

Key Stage 2 Latest figures available, regarding London Pakistanis, by local authority, dated: year 2004. At Key Stage 2 Pakistani children in London have higher attainment rates in both English and Maths, when compared with the British Pakistani average. GCSEs In contrast to Pakistanis from other regions of Britain. Pakistanis in London achieve above average GCSE Pass Rates. For example, in 2004, 50.2% of London Pakistani boys achieved five or more A*-C grades, compared with the national average of 46.8%. Furthermore, 63.3% of Pakistani girls in London reached that threshold compared to the national average of 57%. The achievement of Pakistanis in London at GCSE level is 10 percentage points higher than that of Pakistanis throughout England. The highest attainment within London was found in the borough of Redbridge. Degree Level Qualifications Pakistani applicants to universities are over-represented by 7.5% from Greater London. In education, Pakistanis in London performed the highest out of all

in the 2001 census. This is not just reflected in above average GCSE pass rates but also in degree level qualifications, with 32% of London Pakistanis having degree level or higher qualifications. This is marginally higher than the London average of 31% and is more than twice as high as the figure for London Bangladeshis (15%), equal to the figure for "Other Asians" and comparable to the figure of 34% for London Indians. Pakistanis in Inner London do slightly better than those in Outer London, with 33% reaching the benchmark compared to 32% in Outer London. The figure is higher than the national average of 20% and almost twice as high as the figure for Pakistanis throughout the UK (18%). Pakistani men are better qualified than the average Londoner, with 37% possessing a degree level or higher qualification, although Pakistani women have fewer educational qualifications, with 27% having the same qualifications. The figure for Pakistani women in London is still higher than the national or British Pakistani national average.

Religion

In similarity to

is living in other parts of the UK, 91% of Pakistanis in

are Muslims. The other 6% are made up of people who did not declare their religion,

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

made up 2% and those with no religion made up 1%. Pakistanis make up only 22% of

's Muslim population, in contrast to 43% for British Pakistanis living throughout the UK.

Notable Londoners of Pakistani origin

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

- is a British Pakistani politician of the Conservative Party and former managing director at

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

. He was appointed

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

in April 2018, the first Asian and the first from a Muslim background to hold one of the

Great Offices of State The Great Offices of State are senior offices in the UK government. They are the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary or, alternatively, three of those offices excluding the Prime Minister. Current ...

. *

Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed ( ur, , born 24 April 1957) is a former British Labour politician of Pakistani origin. He was appointed a life peer in 1998 by the Labour Government. Many of his political activities related to the Muslim commu ...

(born 1957) - member of the British House of Lords *

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

- also known as Riz MC;

British Pakistani British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and rapper from

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

; lead performances in ''

The Road to Guantanamo ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', '' Shifty'', ''

Britz Britz () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Neukölln. History The village of ''Britzig'' was first mentioned in 1273. It was incorporated by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act. It is known for being the site ...

'', ''

Four Lions ''Four Lions'' (originally titled ''We Are Four Lions'') is a 2010 British political satire black comedy film directed by Chris Morris (in his directorial debut) and written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. The film, a jihad satire foll ...

'' , ''

The Reluctant Fundamentalist ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' is a "metafictional"Madiou, Mohamed Salah Eddine. “Mohsin Hamid Engages the World in The Reluctant Fundamentalist: ‘An Island on an Island,’ Worlds in Miniature and ‘Fiction’ in the Making.” Arab Stu ...

'' and " Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" *

Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and con ...

historian,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or ...

political campaigner A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

, activist, and commentator *

James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Suppo ...

(born Nazim Khan) - British Pakistani entrepreneur and television personality, best known as a former investor on the BBC programme ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...

'' * Anjem Choudary - British Pakistani radical and former head of Islam4UK, which was proscribed by the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

in 2010 * Altaf Hussain - British Pakistani politician and fugitive, wanted terrorist in Pakistan; one of the founders and for many years lead the

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

based

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement (abbreviated MQM) is a name currently claimed by two competing Pakistani political factions: * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, a political faction managed from the UK * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan Muttah ...

* Hamzah Sheeraz - British

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the WBO European

light-middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA a ...

title since 2019. *

Hasnat Khan Hasnat Ahmad Khan ( ur, حسنات احمد خان; born 1 April 1958) is a British-Pakistani heart and lung surgeon. He is widely known for his romantic relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales, from 1995 to 1997. Early life and education ...

- British Pakistani heart and lung surgeon identified as an "ex-lover" of Diana, Princess of Wales, who is said to have described him as "Mr Wonderful" *

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

- British Pakistani Labour Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

; has been the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

since 2016. Previously, he was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

since 2005, succeeding Tom Cox as the Labour MP for the seat *

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of South Asian and English descent. In 2008, ''The Times'' included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Early l ...

- playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, novelist and short story writer *

Mazhar Majeed Mazhar Majeed (born 1975) is a British sporting agent and bookmaker who came under police investigation in 2010 following reports of cricket ' match fixing' after a '' News of the World'' sting operation. On Saturday 28 August 2010, he was arrest ...

- British Pakistani sporting agent and

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

; arrested by Scotland Yard for allegedly fixing a Test match between England and Pakistan at Lord's *

Sir Anwar Pervez Sir Mohammed Anwar Pervez OBE, HPk ( ur, سر انور پرویز; born 15 March 1935) is a Pakistani-born British billionaire businessman and former bus conductor and driver. He is the founder and chairman of Bestway Group. According to th ...

- Pakistan-born businessman; estimated by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' to be Britain's richest Muslim in 2010; founder of the Bestway Group *

Owais Shah Owais Alam Shah (born 22 October 1978) is a former England cricketer. A middle-order batsman, he played for Middlesex from 1995 to 2010 and Essex from 2011 to 2013 before announcing his retirement from first-class cricket. He played Twenty20 ...

- cricketer who plays for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and has appeared for England in a number of One Day Internationals and test matches

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistani Community Of London Asian-British culture in London