Indians now Britain’s largest overseas-born population

London: Indians have become UK’s biggest overseas-born population.

Data released by the Office of National Statistics on Friday shows that the Indian population has grown by 50 percent since 2004 with 760,000 of them living in the UK now. This has emerged as a significant factor in increasing the share of immigrants in Britain’s population as opposed to those born in the country.

Indians are followed by Poles (688,000), Pakistanis (516,000), Irish (378,000), Germans (297,000) and Bangladeshis (228,000). The Chinese (191,000) and Americans (197,000) are further down in the list.

The latest numbers point to the growing clout Indians enjoy in Britain’s society. The importance of Indians in the UK was reflected by the fact that British Prime Minister David Cameron visited India thrice in his first term, The Times of India reported.

The contours of Britain’s population have changed significantly in the period between 2004 and 2013. While the number of those born overseas has gone up by more than 2.6 million in this period, those born in the UK went up to only 1.4 million. This means that now, there is one immigrant for every seven people born in Britain.

The changing face of Britain’s population was also reflected in the election results in May this year. The House of Commons welcomed the highest number of MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds: 42 against 27 earlier.

By 2040, the number of foreign-born and non-white residents in UK is expected to double and account for a third of the population. One of the world’s best experts on demographics, Professor David Coleman from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, has predicted that by 2070, white Britons may actually become a minority.

Cameron has gone on record saying his party will give Britain its first Asian prime minister.

The longest serving MP of Indian origin Keith Vaz said: “I am convinced that in my lifetime a person of Indian origin will become the prime minister of UK. The Indian diaspora is one of the largest and most historical of ethnic groups in the UK. We can already see the influence of this community in politics, and indeed the potential for British-Indian leaders to emerge to the very top positions including the Premiership of the UK”.