British Sikhs number over 535,000 people and account for 0.8% of the British population as of 2021, forming the United Kingdom's fourth-largest religious group. According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, British Sikhs numbered 535,517, with 520,092 in England, 10,988 in Scotland, 4,048 in Wales, and 389 in Northern Ireland. The largest Sikh populations in the United Kingdom are in the West Midlands and Greater London.

History

Sikh gurus and their associates In 1708 during the final days of Guru Gobind Singh in Nanded, the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah is said to have dispatched an English surgeon by the name of Dr Cole to dress the ailing guru's wounds. The Guru paid the English surgeon 10 gold coins per day for his services. The English surgeon attending the Guru is mentioned in an account of the passing of Guru Gobind Singh attributed to Koer Singh.

During the execution of Banda Singh Bahadur at Delhi in 1716, two Englishmen, named John Surman and Edward Stephenson of the East India Company, were witnesses. An account of the execution of Banda was written by the two men to Robert Hedges, dated to 10 March 1716.

Sikh Empire

Sikhs and Britain have a long and storied history. Decades before the last Sikh King, Duleep Singh, visited Britain in the middle of the 19th century, there had been Anglo-Sikh contact as far back as the 1800s in the Punjab with his father Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Since then, even though this relationship has changed in nature many times, both communities have left a strong permanent influence on each other. For instance, in such varied parts of British society as food, language, political systems, soldiering and of course cricket, the British-Sikh relationship has given rise to many new facets of modern British and Indian society.

Migration of Sikhs to Britain The first Sikh to settle permanently in Britain was Maharaja Duleep Singh (1838–1893), the last Sikh Emperor of the Imperial Sukerchakia Dynasty, from 1844 to 1849. He arrived in England in the year 1854, having been exiled from his kingdom by the East India Company. His mother, Empress Jind Kaur (1817–1863), arrived in 1860 at Kensington in Victorian London and settled permanently, after being at war with Britain for an extended period of time until the fall of the Sikh Dynasty in 1849. She was given permission by Parliament to settle on English soil.

The first Sikh settlers started migrating from the Punjab in 1911, when the first Sikh Gurdwara was opened in London. During the start of the First and Second World Wars respectively, there was already an established Sikh presence in many parts of England. Britain's first south Asian immigrants after the war were Pakistani Muslims and Punjabi Sikhs from the Jullundur Doab. They tended to settle in midland towns such as Birmingham and Leeds, as well as in the London borough of Southall.

Present In 2019, Seema Malhotra MP set up the first debate in Parliament to discuss the positive contribution of the Sikh community over the last 70 years.

Despite the existence of advocacy organisations like the British Sikh Report, there is very little systematic research on British Sikhs. The only major academic work that is a comprehensive, systematic, and thorough history of the community is by Gurharpal Singh and Darshan S. Tatla, Sikhs in Britain: The Making of a Community (Zed, 2006). This work needs updating in light of the impending Census 2021 to reflect changes in the community's profile.

Demography According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, Sikhs in England and Wales numbered 524,140, or 0.9% of the population.

Place of birth According to the 2017 British Sikh Report which surveys the community in the UK, 71% were born in England, followed by 15% in India, 8% in East Africa, 2% in Scotland, and 1% in Afghanistan.

+ Birthplace of Sikhs in England and Wales (2001−2021)Place of birth202120112001 UK 300,075 239,360 184,612 Non-UK 224,065 183,798 144,744 Total 524,140 423,158 329,358

Politics

There have been sixteen Sikh MPs and eight Sikh peers in the UK's history. The first Sikh MP, Piara Singh Khabra, was elected in 1992 from Ealing Southall and the first Sikh peer was Tarsem King of West Bromwich, appointed in 1999. Currently, there are seven Sikh peers and eleven Sikh MPs; Sikhs make up of the House of Lords and of the House of Commons, while making up of the British population.

The seven incumbent Sikh peers include four Conservatives (Baron Rana of Malone in Antrim, Baroness Verma of Leicester, Baron Suri of Ealing, and Baron Ranger of Mayfair), two crossbenchers (Baron Singh of Wimbledon and Baron Ranger of Northwood) and one Labour member (Baron Sahota of Telford).

A 2023 poll indicated that 43% of British Sikhs would vote for Labour, 20% Conservative and 4% each for the Liberal Democrats and Greens in the next general election.

+ Sikh MPs (2024 United Kingdom general election)PartyMPConstituencyRegionSikh pop. share (%)First electedNotesLabourJas AthwalIlford SouthLondon2024LabourTan DhesiSloughSouth East2017LabourKirith EntwistleBolton North EastNorth West2024LabourPreet GillBirmingham EdgbastonWest Midlands2017LabourGurinder JosanSmethwickWest Midlands2024LabourWarinder JussWolverhampton WestWest Midlands2024LabourSatvir KaurSouthampton TestSouth East2024LabourSonia KumarDudleyWest Midlands2024LabourJeevun SandherLoughboroughEast Midlands2024LabourBaggy ShankerDerby SouthEast Midlands2024LabourHarpreet UppalHuddersfieldYorkshire and the Humber2024

Education 65% percent of British Sikhs have a graduate level qualification or above. Sikhs in the 20–34 age group have the highest level of graduates (55%) within the Sikh community. The highest level of postgraduate qualifications of Master's degrees (22%) is in the 35–49 age group. Eight percent of Sikhs aged 65 and over have a PhD. The split of formal education between women and men is roughly equal, with slightly more women holding a university degree or equivalent (48% of women, 42% of men).

Employment The most popular employment sectors for British Sikhs include: Healthcare (10%), IT and Technology (8%), Teaching and Education (9%), Accountancy and Financial Management (7%), indicating that Sikhs tend to favour professional and technical employment sectors over others. Healthcare is a popular sector for all age groups. Teaching and Education is more common in the 35–49 and the 50–64 age groups than others, whereas accountancy and financial management is more popular with the 20–34 age group (9%) compared with 6% respectively for both the 35–49 and the 50–64 age groups. The top career choices for Sikh women are Healthcare (14%) and Teaching and Education (15%). Healthcare is also a joint second most popular choice for Sikh men along with Accountancy and Financial Management, the most popular sector being IT and Technology (13%).

Integration British Sikhs have been praised as an example of positive cultural integration in the United Kingdom, many having achieved success due to a strong cultural work ethic combined with an emphasis on the importance of the family.

Wealth

Home ownership The 2021 census for England and Wales recorded 75.3% of Sikhs either owning their home with a mortgage (45.7%) or outright (29.6%). 18.9% rent privately or live rent free and the remaining 5.7% live in social housing. Across religious groups, Sikhs held the highest rates of home ownership (compared to 62.8% of the wider population) and were the least likely to live in social housing (compared to 17.1% of the wider population).

Home ownership is very high amongst British Sikhs with the British Sikh Report in 2014 recording 87% of households owning at least a portion of their home. 30% of British Sikh households own their homes outright and only 9% rent their properties. Only 1% of British Sikhs claim Housing Benefit. This represents the highest level of private home ownership rate over any other community in the UK. In addition, half of all British Sikh families (49%) own more than one property in the UK, with a similar number (50%) owning at least one property in India, apparently indicating that property ownership is used as a top means of building assets for the future. 6% of British Sikhs own property elsewhere in Europe.

Income Relative to the national average income at approximately £40,000 before tax (according to the British Sikh Report), it found that Sikh households tend to be affluent. Two in every three British Sikh households (66%) have pre-tax incomes in excess of £40,000, and over a third (34%) have an income in excess of £80,000, giving a value for the Sikh Pound of 7.63 billion.

However, this data appears to be contradicted by research carried out by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which actually states Sikhs have the second highest poverty rate in the UK, with 27% of British Sikhs living below the poverty line; this is in comparison to 18% of the population as a whole.

About one in three British Sikh families (34%) own a business in the UK.

Charitable giving and volunteering

Performing Seva (selfless service) is a basic tenet of Sikhism, and Sikhs are also expected to share at least 10 per cent of their earnings with those less fortunate and for good causes (Dasvandh).

64% percent of British Sikhs engage in some volunteering work, and 40% give between one and five hours per week on voluntary activities, including Seva at their Gurdwara, whilst more than 2% spend over 25 hours on such activities, spending an average of about 200 hours per year on voluntary activities. 93% percent claim to donate some money to charity every month, with 50% donating between £1 and £20 every month, and 7% donating more than £100 per month. It is estimated that Sikhs in Britain donate around £380 per year to charity on average. Taken as a whole, Sikhs in the UK are estimated to donate about £125 million to charity per annum and spend over 65 million hours each year on voluntary activities.

Care of the elderly Sikhs prefer to live in extended family households as they grow older (61% of males and 52% of females). The second highest preference is in their own home (44% males and 41% females) and the third preference is in a retirement village (31% females and 24% males).

Geographical distribution + Top ten English local authorities by Sikh population, 2021 Local authority PopulationSandwell 39,252 Birmingham 33,126 Wolverhampton 31,769 Ealing 28,491 Hillingdon 26,339 Hounslow 24,677 Slough 17,985 Redbridge 17,622 Coventry 17,297 Walsall 17,148 + Top ten English local authorities by Sikh proportion, 2021 Local authority PercentageWolverhampton 12.0%Sandwell11.5%Slough11.3%Hillingdon8.6%Hounslow8.6%Gravesham 8.0%Ealing7.8%Oadby and Wigston7.5%Walsall6.0%Redbridge5.7% + Sikhs in the United Kingdom by region and countryRegion / Country 202120112001NumberNumberNumber England 520,092 420,196 327,343 —West Midlands 172,398 133,681 103,870 —Greater London 144,543 126,134 104,230 —South East 74,348 54,941 37,735 —East Midlands 53,950 44,335 33,551 —East 24,284 18,213 13,365 —Yorkshire and the Humber 24,034 22,179 18,711 —North West 11,862 8,857 6,487 —South West 7,465 5,892 4,614 —North East 7,206 5,964 4,780 Scotland 10,988 0.20% 9,055 6,572 Wales 4,048 2,962 2,015 Northern Ireland 389 216 219 United Kingdom 535,517 0.79% 432,429 336,149

According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, Sikhs in England and Wales enumerated 524,140, or 0.9% of the population Northern Ireland recorded a population of 389, or 0.02% of the population. The equivalent census was recorded a year later in Scotland with a population of 10,988, making up 0.2% of the population.