Leicester (Somali diaspora)

Leicester's Somali community is mostly twice-migrant: people who found refuge in mainland Europe, became citizens, then moved to Leicester after 2000 (Open Society Foundations, 2014). Census 2021 counted 6,849 residents who wrote "Somali" or "Somalilander" (Nomis, Census 2021 TS022).

How many Somalis live in Leicester?

The census gives several counts:

• Somali or Somalilander write-ins: 6,849, or 1.9% of 368,557 residents (Nomis, TS022). Only 329 wrote "Somalilander" (same table).
• ONS share: Leicester holds 3.8% of the 176,645 people in England and Wales who identified as Somali (ONS, 4 October 2023).
• Born in Somalia: 3,394 in 2021 (Nomis, Census 2021 TS012), up from 872 in 2001 and 3,209 in 2011 (OSF, 2014).
• Main language Somali: 2,408 in 2021 (Nomis, Census 2021 TS024), against 3,331 in 2011 (OSF, 2014).

The country-of-birth count misses people born in the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden. Local estimates have long been higher: 10,000 to 15,000 in 2014 (OSF summary, 2014).

Where in Leicester do Somalis live?

Census 2021 ward counts, Somali and Somalilander together (Nomis, TS022 by ward):

• Wycliffe (St Matthew's and Highfields): 1,540
• Beaumont Leys: 809
• Saffron: 638
• Stoneygate: 611
• North Evington: 479
• Abbey: 438

In 2011, two small areas near St Matthew's were 18.6% and 16.7% Somali by main language (OSF, 2014). Growth from 2001 to 2011 was fastest in Charnwood (373%) and Beaumont Leys (310%) (same report).

How did Somalis come to Leicester?

From mainland Europe, after 2000. Most Somalis in Denmark arrived as refugees in the early 1990s. After 10 to 12 years, many became Danish citizens (Nielsen, Sussex Migration Working Paper 22, 2004). As EU citizens they could then live in any member state (same paper). In the 2000s, people from Somalia and Eritrea built a community around St Matthew's, with shops and places of worship (Story of Leicester, Leicester City Council). See Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.

How many moved. No official count exists, because they arrived as Dutch, Danish or Swedish citizens (Nielsen, 2004). Estimates differ:

• Netherlands to the UK: about 10,000, one third of Dutch Somalis, according to an EU-funded study (CORDIS, Secondary Movements of Somalis within Europe, 2010). Dutch officials put it at 10,000 to 20,000 (Lindley and Van Hear, COMPAS, 2007).
• Denmark to the UK: an Aarhus adviser estimated 300 to 400 from that city in one to two years (Nielsen, 2004).
• Into Leicester: in 2001 to 2004, about 10,000 Dutch Somalis moved to Leicester, the city council told Parliament, as cited by COMPAS, 2007.

In 2013, 127 people took part in Leicester focus groups. Of them, 56 had lived in the Netherlands, 7 in Denmark, 6 in Finland, 5 in Sweden and 4 in Norway (OSF, 2014). Only 13 came directly from Somalia, and most arrived in 2000 to 2005 (same report).

Why they moved. A 2011 study drew on 33 interviews with Dutch Somalis in London and Leicester (Van Liempt, Population, Space and Place, 2011). People cited easier work and business, open higher education, English, a large Somali community and family already in Britain (CORDIS, 2010). Some felt Dutch policy had shifted from integration to assimilation (same study). Some say Dutch Somalis tended to choose Leicester and Scandinavian Somalis Birmingham (COMPAS, 2007).

How the UK responded. In July 2002 Leicester's MP asked about Dutch Somalis settling in the UK (Hansard, HC Deb 1 July 2002). The minister said rising numbers were seeking council support, and the asylum bill was amended to limit it (same answer). Leicester City Council ran a "New Arrivals Strategy" (OSF, 2014).

Do Somalis in Leicester have work?

No city-level Somali employment rate has been published. Focus groups named unrecognised qualifications, language and discrimination as barriers (OSF summary, 2014). Self-employment appeared high (same report).

Somali businesses grew fast: 36 opened in the two years to 2004 (COMPAS, 2007). By 2014 they included restaurants, clothing, internet cafés, furniture stores, remittance offices and groceries (OSF, 2014). The report also noted many small businesses run by Somali women (same report).

Schools show the clearest gains. Somali pupils getting five good GCSEs rose from 26.6% in 2008 to 45.3% in 2012, near the city's 51.8% (OSF summary, 2014). There were 2,076 Somali pupils in city schools in 2013 (same report).

Who speaks for Somalis in Leicester?

• Somali Community Parents Association (SOCOPA) (charity 1152565) runs study support, English classes and a job club (Charity Commission). Its income was £167,469 in the year to March 2025 (same record).
• Somali Development Services gives advice on education, housing, work and benefits (OSF, 2014). It has hosted Dutch, Danish and Swedish delegations (same report).
• Mosques: six Somali mosques in 2014, four in St Matthew's and two in Highfields (OSF summary, 2014).

In 2014 the city had no Somali councillors, and many eligible Somalis were not registered to vote (OSF summary, 2014). Turnout among Somalis rose in the 2011 council election after community voter drives (same report).

What do Somalis in Leicester face now?

• Housing (2014, latest found): the most urgent concern, with small, crowded homes and slow repairs (OSF summary, 2014).
• Health: focus groups reported language barriers and poor experiences with GP services; some said care was better in other EU countries (same report).
• Everywhere in England and Wales, 2021: 58.8% of Somali households were overcrowded, against 8.4% overall (ONS, 2023).

How is Leicester tied to home?

Ties run in a triangle: to Somalia, to the European country people left, and to Leicester (CORDIS, 2010). Somalis moving on from mainland Europe often linked better UK earnings to supporting relatives in Somalia (COMPAS, 2007). For money sent home, see Life after leaving.

What else has been reported?

• Council estimates: a Leicester City Council cabinet paper estimated 6,000 to 10,000 Somalis in the city, "from a position of none in 1999" (Leicester City Council, "The city's case for proper funding for its population"). Separately, a study of Dutch Somalis in London and Leicester estimates that 10,000 to 20,000 Somalis left the Netherlands for the UK after 2000 (CORDIS, Secondary movements of Somalis within Europe).
• Aarhus: the Washington Times reported in January 2005 on Somalis moving from Denmark to Britain; a figure of 4,000 from Aarhus is attributed to it (Washington Times, 5 January 2005).

Related pages

• Netherlands (Somali diaspora)
• Denmark (Somali diaspora)
• Sweden (Somali diaspora)
• Birmingham (Somali diaspora)
• United Kingdom (Somali diaspora)
• Other UK cities (Somali diaspora)
• Migration routes

Sources

1. Open Society Foundations. "Somalis in Leicester." At Home in Europe, 17 September 2014. Full report · Summary. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS022, Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities and Leicester wards. nomisweb.co.uk · wards. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS012, Country of birth: Somalia. nomisweb.co.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. ONS via Nomis. Census 2021 TS024, Main language (detailed), Leicester. nomisweb.co.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023. ons.gov.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Nielsen, K. B. "Next Stop Britain: The Influence of Transnational Networks on the Secondary Movement of Danish Somalis." Sussex Migration Working Paper 22, University of Sussex, March 2004. sussex.ac.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Lindley, A. and Van Hear, N. "New Europeans on the Move: A preliminary review of the onward migration of refugees within the European Union." COMPAS Working Paper 57, University of Oxford, 2007. compas.ox.ac.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. European Commission, CORDIS. "Secondary movements of Somalis within Europe" (FP7 project 219485), final report summary, 2010. cordis.europa.eu. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Van Liempt, I. "'And then one day they all moved to Leicester': the relocation of Somalis from the Netherlands to the UK explained." Population, Space and Place 17(3), 2011. doi.org/10.1002/psp.605. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. UK Parliament, Hansard. Written answers, "Dutch Somalians," HC Deb 1 July 2002 vol 388 c184W. api.parliament.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Somali Community Parents Association (SOCOPA), charity 1152565. register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. Story of Leicester (Leicester City Council). "A city of diversity." storyofleicester.info. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Leicester City Council. "The city's case for proper funding for its population". c. 2007. https://cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/documents/s11018/THE%20CITYS%20CASE%20FOR%20PROPER%20FUNDING%20FOR%20ITS%20POPULATION.pdf. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. CORDIS (European Commission). "Secondary movements of Somalis within Europe", final report summary. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/219485/reporting. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Washington Times. 5 Jan 2005. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/jan/5/20050105-094454-3064r/. Checked 2026-11-12.