Young Somalis abroad: how many, school, work and ties to home

Somali communities abroad are very young: in England and Wales, 48.2% of people who identify as Somali were under 21 in 2021 (ONS, Somali populations, Census 2021). Official counts show more than 180,000 people of Somali heritage born in six host countries alone, and most of them are children or young adults.

Is this you?

• You were born in London, Oslo or Toronto, and your parents came from Somalia. This page is about your generation.
• You grew up in Minneapolis and speak Somali at home. See Minneapolis and St Paul.
• You want the full picture of Somalis abroad. Start with Life after leaving.

How many young Somalis live abroad?

No one counts the whole generation in one place. National statistics offices count people in different ways: by ethnic group, by parents' country of birth, or by language. The latest official counts of people of Somali heritage born in their new country are:

• England: 43.5% of the 176,645 people who identified as Somali in 2021 were born in England, about 77,000 people, and 43.1% in Somalia (ONS, 2023).
• Sweden: 30,849 people born in Sweden to two Somalia-born parents in 2025 (SCB, FolkmForUrspCKMv2).
• Canada: 26,930 second-generation people of Somali origin in 2021 (Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0338).
• Netherlands: 18,806 people of Somali origin born in the Netherlands on 1 January 2026 (CBS, table 85384NED).
• Norway: 16,975 people born in Norway to Somali-born parents on 1 January 2026 (SSB, table 09817).
• Denmark: 10,873 descendants of Somali origin in late 2026 (Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C).

Together that is more than 180,000 people. It leaves out the United States. There, 166,157 people reported Somali ancestry and 93,405 were born in Somalia (US Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024, via Census Reporter).

How young are they?

Very young, in every country with an age table. Age profiles from official data:

• England and Wales: 21.3% of Somali identifiers were under 11 and 48.2% under 21, against 12.6% and 24.2% of everyone (ONS, 2023).
• Canada: of 65,555 people of Somali origin, 17,805 were under 15 and 14,135 were aged 15 to 24 (Statistics Canada, table 98-10-0356). That is almost half under 25.
• Netherlands: 18,698 of 49,453 people of Somali origin were under 20 in 2026 (CBS, 85384NED).
• Denmark: 10,181 of the 10,873 Denmark-born descendants were under 30 (Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C).
• Finland: 12,057 of 28,167 Somali speakers were under 20 at the end of 2025 (Statistics Finland, table 11rl).

The Denmark-born generation has nearly caught up with the generation that came. In 2026 there were 11,012 Somali immigrants and 10,873 descendants (Statistics Denmark, FOLK1C).

How do Somali pupils do at school?

Most countries do not publish school results for Somali pupils on their own. England's national figures fold them into "Black African". Lambeth council's research unit published national and local figures by Somali background in January 2024 (Lambeth, Achievement of Somali Pupils 2023).

• Attainment 8, England, 2023: Somali pupils scored 45.4 nationally, close to White British pupils (44.8) and below Black African pupils (48.6) (Lambeth, 2024).
• Progress 8, England, 2023: Somali pupils scored +0.25, so they made more progress than pupils with the same starting point (Lambeth, 2024).
• Lambeth, 2023: 67% of Somali pupils passed English and maths at grade 4, above 61% nationally (Lambeth, 2024).

Many of these pupils grow up with little money. In Lambeth, 46% of Somali GCSE pupils were eligible for free school meals in 2023 (Lambeth, 2024).

In Minnesota, Somali students rose from 0.7% of high school graduates in 2006 to 4% in 2022 (Minnesota DEED, March 2026). Of 26,344 Somali students who left high school from 2006 to 2022, 97.2% came from low-income families (DEED, 2026).

How many go to university?

The numbers differ by country and by how they are measured. In Minnesota, 27% of Somali high school leavers completed a college credential, against 42% of white peers (DEED, 2026). Fifteen percent earned a bachelor's degree, and health care made up 30% of their credentials (DEED, 2026).

In England and Wales, 21.7% of Somali identifiers were students outside the labour market, against 7.3% of everyone (ONS, 2023). Among Somali adults, 23.9% held a degree-level qualification, against 33.8% of everyone (ONS, 2023).

Do young Somalis abroad have work?

Young Somalis work hard, but often in less secure jobs. In Minnesota, 85% of Somali high school leavers were working in the state 8 to 11 years later, more than white peers at 80% (DEED, 2026). Yet they worked full time 50% of the time, against 65%, and changed jobs almost twice as often (DEED, 2026).

They reached a living wage at 27 on average; white peers reached it before 25 (DEED, 2026). In 2023 to 2025, 30% worked in health care, 21% in social assistance and 9% in transport (DEED, 2026).

In Norway, 65% of Norway-born people aged 25 to 39 with Somali parents were in work in late 2023 (SSB, 16 September 2024). The rate for all Norway-born children of immigrants was 79%, and 85% for the majority (SSB, 2024). About 40% of Norway-born people with Somali parents live in the lowest fifth of household incomes (SSB, Monitor 2024).

Do they still speak Somali?

Many do, but the language is slipping in the second generation. In England and Wales, 28.6% of Somali identifiers gave Somali as their main language and 67.8% gave English (ONS, 2023). In Canada, 44,935 people reported Somali as their mother tongue in 2021 (Statistics Canada, 2024).

In Minnesota, 27,518 school students had Somali as their main home language in 2024-25 (Minnesota Department of Education, English Learners report 2024-25). Somali is the state's second home language after Spanish, and 16,212 of those students were learning English (MDE, 2025).

Where do children learn Somali and the Qur'an?

Most learn at home, at the mosque and in dugsi, the Qur'an school held after school or at weekends. In Norway, about a third of Muslims have attended a mosque weekend school, research at Volda University College reports (Science Norway, 8 March 2026). Lessons there cover Arabic letters, the Qur'an and Islamic history, mostly taught in Norwegian (Science Norway, 2026).

Public schools have started teaching Somali too. Minneapolis Public Schools opened a Somali Heritage Language Program in 2021 for its roughly 4,000 Somali students (MPR News, 2021). By 2024 it had about 162 pupils, and St. Cloud schools and the University of Minnesota also teach Somali (Sahan Journal, 19 February 2024).

What do young Somalis abroad face now?

Official and peer-reviewed sources name three main challenges:

• Unemployment: in England and Wales in 2021, 10.3% of Somali identifiers aged 16 to 64 were unemployed, against 4.4% of everyone (ONS, 2023).
• Policing: a 2020 study in three US and Canadian Somali communities found people perceived "harsher and more frequent policing" as Black Muslim immigrants (Ellis et al., Race and Justice, 2020).
• Mental health: a study of 135 Somali adolescents aged 11 to 20 in the US found discrimination was common and linked to worse mental health (Ellis et al., American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2010). Girls with stronger Somali identity fared better (Ellis et al., 2010).

Some children are sent abroad by their families for "dhaqan celis", a return to culture. In 2024, Norway registered 100 cases of Somalis held abroad against their will, the Danish Immigration Service reports (Danish Immigration Service, June 2025). Norwegian officials say cases appear to be falling after awareness work before the summer holidays (DIS, 2025).

Who speaks for young Somalis abroad?

Young people built many of their own organisations. Ka Joog in Minneapolis was founded in 2007 by young Somali Americans, and in 2012 it served about 2,500 young people (MPR News, 2 November 2012). Its name means "stay away from", and it uses arts, mentoring and tutoring (MPR News, 2012).

In the UK, Somali Youth for Integrity (SYFI), founded in 2015, worked with university Somali Societies to raise over £50,000 in February 2017 (Amaliah, 19 March 2018). Its next appeal, with African Relief Fund, raised over £59,000 to build a school in Somalia (Amaliah, 2018).

How are young Somalis abroad tied to home?

Mostly through their parents, by phone calls, money and visits. A study of second-generation Somali Canadians found these family practices kept the tie alive (Tiilikainen, Migration Letters, 2017). Few identified with relatives in Somalia beyond these practices, but they combined belonging in "dynamic and complex" ways (Tiilikainen, 2017).

Young people also give. The UK school appeal above is one example of a generation born abroad building something at home (Amaliah, 2018). For the money all Somalis abroad send home, see Life after leaving.

Related pages

• Life after leaving
• Somali refugees by the numbers
• United Kingdom
• Minneapolis and St Paul
• Norway
• The Somali language

Sources

1. Office for National Statistics. "Somali populations, England and Wales: Census 2021." 4 October 2023 (corrected 4 November 2023). ons.gov.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
2. Statistics Sweden (SCB). "Foreign-born persons and persons with at least one foreign-born parent by country of birth," table FolkmForUrspCKMv2, 2025. statistikdatabasen.scb.se. Checked 2026-11-12.
3. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0338-01, generation status by ethnic or cultural origin, Census 2021. statcan.gc.ca. Checked 2026-11-12.
4. Statistics Canada. Table 98-10-0356-01, ethnic or cultural origin by age and gender, Census 2021. statcan.gc.ca. Checked 2026-11-12.
5. Statistics Canada. "The Diversity of the Black Populations in Canada, 2021: A Sociodemographic Portrait." 89-657-X2024005, October 2024. statcan.gc.ca. Checked 2026-11-12.
6. Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Table 85384NED, population by sex, age, origin and parents' country of birth, 1 January 2026. opendata.cbs.nl. Checked 2026-11-12.
7. Statistics Norway (SSB). Table 09817, immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents by country background, 2026. ssb.no. Checked 2026-11-12.
8. Statistics Norway (SSB). "Nesten 8 av 10 av norskfødte med innvandrerforeldre er sysselsatt." 16 September 2024. ssb.no. Checked 2026-11-12.
9. Statistics Norway (SSB). "Monitor for Norwegian-born with immigrant parents." Reports 2024/43, 3 December 2024. ssb.no. Checked 2026-11-12.
10. Statistics Denmark. StatBank table FOLK1C, population by origin and country of origin, 2026 Q4. statbank.dk. Checked 2026-11-12.
11. Statistics Finland. Table 11rl, language by age and sex, 2025. stat.fi. Checked 2026-11-12.
12. US Census Bureau. American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year, tables B04006 and B05006, via Census Reporter. censusreporter.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
13. Lambeth Research and Statistics Unit. "The Achievement of Somali Pupils in Lambeth Schools: Empirical Evidence 2023." RS 342/24, January 2024. lambeth.gov.uk. Checked 2026-11-12.
14. Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. "The Experience of Somali Youth in Minnesota: Educational Attainment, Workforce Outcomes, and Economic Opportunity." Economic Trends, March 2026. mn.gov. Checked 2026-11-12.
15. Minnesota Department of Education. "English Learners in Minnesota Report 2024-25." 2026. lrl.mn.gov. Checked 2026-11-12.
16. Science Norway. "What do kids actually learn in Quran schools?" 8 March 2026. sciencenorway.no. Checked 2026-11-12.
17. MPR News. "Minneapolis schools are launching a Somali Heritage Language Program." 2021. mprnews.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
18. Sahan Journal. "Growth in Somali culture programs aims to address second-generation language loss." 19 February 2024. sahanjournal.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
19. Ellis, B. H. et al. "'We All Have Stories': Black Muslim Immigrants' Experience With the Police." Race and Justice 10(3), 2020. experts.umn.edu. Checked 2026-11-12.
20. Ellis, B. H. et al. "Discrimination and mental health among Somali refugee adolescents: The role of acculturation and gender." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 80(4), 2010. resolvenet.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
21. Danish Immigration Service. "Re-education Trips of Somali Children and Youth." June 2025. Via EUAA COI portal. coi.euaa.europa.eu. Checked 2026-11-12.
22. MPR News. "Minn. Somali youth group Ka Joog builds bridges." 2 November 2012. mprnews.org. Checked 2026-11-12.
23. Amaliah. "Somali youth in the UK raised £59,000: this is what unity can achieve." 19 March 2018. amaliah.com. Checked 2026-11-12.
24. Tiilikainen, M. "'Whenever mom hands over the phone, then we talk': Transnational ties to the country of descent among Canadian Somali youth." Migration Letters 14(1), 2017. ideas.repec.org. Checked 2026-11-12.