According to the 2011 UK Census, there were 131,195 Italian-born residents in England, 3,424 in Wales,[31] 6,048 in Scotland,[32] and 538 in Northern Ireland.[33] The 2001 Census recorded a total of 107,244 Italian-born people resident in the United Kingdom.[34] Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates put the equivalent figure for 2015 at 162,000.[1] In 2016, the Italian embassy in London estimated that 600,000 Italians were resident in the UK.[35] According to Ethnologue, Italian is the first language of some 200,000 people in the UK,[36][dubious – discuss] although the 2011 Census recorded only 92,241 people with Italian as their main language in England and Wales.[37]
For the period 2015 to 2016, 12,135 Italian students were studying in UK universities. This was the third-highest figure amongst EU countries and ninth globally.[38]
Distribution[edit]
Italians and British-born people of Italian descent reside across the entire UK. Also unlike many ethnic groups in the country, there are substantial numbers of Italians outside England. Locations with significant Italian populations include London, where the 2011 Census recorded 62,050 Italian-born residents,[31] Manchester with an estimated 25,000 people of Italian ethnicity,[25] Bedford with an estimated 20,000 ethnic Italians,[27][26] and Glasgow, which is home to a large percentage of the estimated 35,000