The changing face of Kingston has been revealed in census data published yesterday, writes Andrey Bulay.

The 2011 census show large shifts in Kingston's population and an increasing ethnic diversity.

Since the previous census in 2001, the population of the borough of Kingston, which includes towns like Surbiton, New Malden and Chessington, grew by almost 9 per cent to 160,060 people.

The share of people in Kingston who defined themselves as white British decreased from 76 percent to 63 percent, according to the Office for National Statistics data.

Kingston’s relatively small Bangladeshi community demonstrated the strongest growth more than doubling its numbers over the decade reaching the population of 892 people.

The number of non-British white residents in the borough grew by 64% from 9,381 to 15,391 over the decade.

It also showed - There were three residents in Kingston born in Antarctica, out of a total of 25 in London and 51 in England and Wales.

Some of the stats:

  • 52 percent of Kingston residents defined themselves as Christian, 25.7 percent chose no religion, and 5.9 percent were Muslims.
  • 67 Kingstonians said they had mixed religion while 608 said their beliefs were 'Jedi Knight', 17 heavy metal and 6 practice witchcraft.
  • 19.3 percent of Kingston households were married couples with dependent children, higher than London’s average 15 percent.
  • There were 1,778 German-born residents in Kingston, almost twice as much as Italian-born residents.
  • There were 3,550 single parent families in Kingston, lower than the London and national average.
  • 62 percent of Kingston homes were houses, detached, semi-detached and terraced.
  • Kingston was the second smallest London borough by population following Kensington and Chelsea.

To see the detailed breakdown visit ons.gov.uk