Kenyans in the United Kingdom
Ethnic group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kenyan migration to the United Kingdom has been occurring for many decades. As a result, many people in the UK were born in Kenya, or have Kenyan ancestry. The majority of Kenya-born people who migrated to the UK are of South Asian extraction.
Total population | |
---|---|
Kenya-born residents in the United Kingdom: 138,490 (2021/22 Census)[note 1] England: 133,416 (2021)[1] Scotland: 3,179 (2022)[2] Wales: 1,528 (2021)[1] Northern Ireland: 367 (2021)[3] Previous estimates: 129,633 (2001 census) 140,536 (2011 census) 121,000 (2019 ONS estimate) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
London, South East England, East Midlands | |
Languages | |
English (British, Kenyan), Swahili, Somali, Indian Languages | |
Religion | |
Christianity, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism
|
Background
Most Kenyans in the UK are ethnically South Asian Kenyans who, like those in Uganda, were expelled during the late 1960s and early 1970s.[4] This community has a substantial cluster in Leicester and London.[4] The most recent growth may now be coming from ethnically African Kenyans, mirroring wider trends across the continent of economic migration to the richer industrialised nations.[4] There are also a small number of Kenyan-born people who are the children of British civil servants based there before the end of the Empire.[4]
Demographics

The 2001 UK Census recorded 129,633 Kenyan-born British residents.[6] The 2011 census recorded 135,966 Kenyan-born people resident in England, 1,526 in Wales,[7] 2,743 in Scotland[8] and 301 in Northern Ireland,[9] making a UK total of 140,536. The equivalent UK figure in 2019 has been estimated at 121,000 by the Office for National Statistics.[10]
The largest proportion of Kenyan-born British residents are found in the capital, London, where around half of the Kenyan-born population in Britain resides. There are also significant populations in the South East and the East Midlands.[11]
Famous Britons born in Kenya
Academia, medicine and science
- Richard Dawkins, ethologist, biologist, writer
- Azim Nanji, academic
- Alan Rayner, biologist
- Sir Nilesh Samani, physician
- Sir Tejinder Virdee, physicist
Business, law and politics
- Michael Bear, former Lord Mayor of London
- Peter Hain, former Labour MP, cabinet minister and currently member of the House of Lords
- Baroness Prashar, businesswoman
- Lord Sheikh, businessman, Conservative politician
Music and the arts
- Khadambi Asalache, poet
- Kamara Bacchus, actress
- Kuljit Bhamra, musician
- Gurinder Chadha, film director
- Nitin Ganatra, actor
- Kulvinder Ghir, comedian
- Tania Harcourt-Cooze, model and actress
- Elspeth Huxley, author, journalist, broadcaster
- Viram Jasani, musician
- Michael Kuhn, film producer
- Charles Mnene, actor
- Deep Roy, actor, stuntman
- Roger Whittaker, musician
- Imran Yusuf, comedian
- Adrian Zagoritis, music producer and songwriter
Sport
- Roger Chapman, golfer
- Jamie Dalrymple, cricketer
- Chris Froome, racing cyclist
- Rajesh Maru, cricketer
- Derek Pringle, cricketer
- Peter Thackeray, cricketer
- Curtis Osano, footballer
- Victor Wanyama, footballer
- Simon Shaw, rugby union player
- Anne Wafula Strike, wheelchair racing
See also
References
External links
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