Majority of British Muslims live in most deprived areas of England and Wales, ONS revealed

The majority of Muslims are living in the areas of England and Wales with the worst levels of deprivation, the UK Office for National Statistics revealed on Wednesday.

Muslims now account for 6.5 percent of the population in England and Wales, some 3.9 million in 2021, according to the latest ONS census.

However, the data showed 61 percent of them live in the lowest 40 percent of areas ranked by deprivation score, The Guardian reported.

Tower Hamlets, considered one of the most deprived areas, had the highest percentage of Muslims in England and Wales in 2011. The census in 2021 shows that they now account for 39.9 percent of the local population.

Meanwhile, only 4 percent of Muslims live in the 20 percent of areas least deprived.

Policymakers have been urged to address the “cycles of poverty” that have affected generations of British Muslims, the numbers of which have increased by 1.2 million in the last decade.

Muslim Council of Britain Secretary-General Zara Mohammed told The Guardian: “We’re now the second or third generation (of Muslims).

“There are more of us here, and yet we’re still in these cycles of poverty and deprivation.

Sufia Alam, head of the Maryam Centre and programmes at East London Mosque in Tower Hamlets, said: “I have worked for almost three decades in this borough and it’s one of the poorest in London and indeed in the country.

“The (census data) are not surprising because of so many factors that we’ve often talked about: Anti-Muslim rhetoric, cultural biases that exist, racism within institutions from education all the way to employment.