1.2.2. Religion

In Bradford, Christians form the largest religious group at 33.4%, followed closely by Muslims at 30.5%. Additionally, 28.2% identify as having no religion.

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Religion

The largest religious group in Bradford is Christian, making up 33.4% of the population. This is followed closely by Muslims, who make up 30.5% of the population. There is also a significant number of people in Bradford who identify as having no religion, making up 28.2% of the total population.

Figure 3: Religion figures for Bradford, Yorkshire and The Humber and England

Bradford 2021 Christian: 33.4% Muslim: 30.5% No religion: 28.2% Sikh: 0.9% Hindu: 0.9% Other: 0.4% Buddhist: 0.2% Jewish: 0% Yorkshire and The Humber 2021 Christian: 44.9% Muslim: 8.1% No religion: 39.4% Sikh: 0.4% Hindu: 0.5% Other: 0.4% Buddhist: 0.3% Jewish: 0.2% England 2021 Christian: 46.2% Muslim: 6.5% No religion: 37.2% Sikh: 0.9% Hindu: 1.7% Other: 0.6% Buddhist: 0.5% Jewish: 0.5%

The chart compares rates of religion for Bradford, Yorkshire and The Humber and England. Fewer people identify as Christian in Bradford than the comparator areas, down from 45.9% of Bradford identifying as Christian as of the
2011 census.8 

30.5% of the population identify as Muslim, up from 24.7% in 2011, much higher than for Yorkshire and the Humber and England.

Source: 2021 Census data, ONS

Next: Disability

1.2.1. Ethnicity

The district also has a high percentage of Asian/Asian British, with 26.8% of the population identifying as such.

1.2.3. Disability

Overall, 19.0% of Bradford residents identify as disabled. This is slightly higher than Yorkshire and The Humber at 18.9% and 17.7% in England.

1.2.4. Age profile and gender

Bradford has a balanced gender ratio, with 50.5% female and 49.5% male residents and is among the youngest metropolitan districts in the UK, with a median age of 36.7.

1.1 Overview

1.2. Diversity

This section provides an overview of Bradford’s diverse population and demographics, drawing on the 2021 Census6 – other sources are used where noted.

1.3. Skills, education and employment

This section provides data on skill levels and educational outcomes in Bradford. This draws on data from the 2021 Census, and other sources highlighted, such as comparators with Yorkshire and The Humber.

1.4 Health

This section provides an overview of health data, addressing issues such as life expectancy, health outcomes, illness and wellbeing. Data in this section comes from the 2021 Census.

1.5. Socio-economic deprivation

This section provides an overview of socio-economic data in Bradford, addressing issues such as poverty, unemployment and deprivation. Data in this section comes from the 2021 Census.

1.6. Gaps in the data

While there is much research on the demographics and diversity of Bradford district, there are gaps in the data of significance to arts organisations

1.7. Opportunities

Arts and community organisations in the district can utilise this data for designing programs and activities targeting entrenched, longstanding issues.

Read more Resources

Needs Analysis

Joint Cultural Needs Assessment

In March 2020 BPH commissioned Anna Franks Consultancy to conduct a Joint Cultural Needs Assessment of the Bradford district.
Evaluation

Year 3 Evaluation Report

“There is a magic about Bradford you rarely find in other places and dreams have room to flourish here.” Creativity Council member
Needs Analysis

Then and Now: A reflection on Bradford’s Joint Cultural Needs Assessment

An update of reflections and considerations on the original JCNA commissioned in March 2020.

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