East of England

Norwich

Updated 31 Dec 2025 · Home Office
Alice Macdonald
Alice Macdonald Labour (Co-op) · Norwich North

2 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Norwich.

351 people housed on asylum support in Norwich

Rank 104 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 23.85 per 10,000 puts Norwich in the 82nd percentile. That means this area carries more than most. White British projected to be a minority by approximately 2053. 162 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). At roughly £150/person/day, that costs the taxpayer an estimated £19M per year for this area alone.

What asylum costs Norwich

£6.9Mestimated hotel costs/year
£898Ksubsistence payments/year
£421KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 351 people on asylum support in Norwich (0.33% of 107,003 nationally). Hotel costs pro-rated from £5.77M/day national spend (2024/25 average, NAO). Subsistence: £49.18/week per person. Nationally, the hotel bill alone costs £62 per taxpayer per year.

Norwich: asylum numbers falling

Quarter-end stock series to Dec 2025. A rise or fall is a net change in the number of people on support at period end, not the number of new claims or distinct people moving through the caseload. Support stock also overlaps with, but is not identical to, the awaiting-decision backlog.

351
416 277 139 0 Mar 2014 Dec 2025 Peak Sept 2023 Rwanda scheme Albania deal Bibby Stockholm Rwanda scrapped

Trend

-35 Latest quarter change
+239 Change across series
48 Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation 180
Initial accommodation 0
Subsistence only 9
Contingency accommodation 162

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
351
Homes for Ukraine
278
Afghan programme
126
Resettlement cumulative
297

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine 278
Afghan programme 126
Resettlement cumulative 297

Population context

All pathways total 755
Share of local population 0.51%

Ethnic composition projection

Norwich: WBI 77.5% (2021) → 51.8% (2051). White British minority by ~2053. 80% CI: 49.3–56.7%.

Ethnic composition - Norwich

0 22 45 67 90 % of population Census 2021 Illustrative White British 43% White Other 36% Asian 6% Black 5% Mixed 7% Other 3% 20112021203120412051
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed Other 80% CI

Ethnic composition: Norwich

Census 2011, Census 2021, then Hamilton-Perry projections to 2051. Percentages.

2011
85%
2021
78%
10%
2031 proj
70%
14%
2041 proj
61%
21%
2051 proj
52%
28%
2061 proj
43%
36%
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed Other
Model: Hamilton-Perry single-year CCRs, 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations, SNPP-constrained

Census 2011 to 2021 cohort change ratios. Shaded band = 80% confidence interval from stochastic perturbation. Not a forecast.

Scenario explorer

Under different assumptions, White British share in Norwich ranges from 49.0% to 62.3% by 2051 — a 13.4pp spread.

Fertility
Low ~108k/yr
Principal ~315k/yr
High ~476k/yr
Constant Rates stay at current levels
Half convergence Move halfway to national avg
Full convergence Converge to national avg
Migration
Central scenario: WBI 54.1% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 3.2% (2021) → 7.4% (2051). Christian 36.1% → 10.2%.

Religion - Norwich

0 21 41 62 82 % Census 2021 Christian 10% No religion 77% Muslim 7% Hindu 3% 2021203120412051
Christian No religion Muslim Hindu

Nativity

17.6% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: moderately diverse (entropy 0.47). 90% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born - Norwich

13 31 50 69 87 % Census 2021 UK-born 50% Foreign-born 50% 2021203120412051
UK-born Foreign-born

emerging diversity: Limited ethnic diversity. Projections primarily driven by national trends.

Census 2021 mobility: 14.7% moved within UK, 1.4% arrived from abroad
black 24.8% internal, 7% international
asian 18.4% internal, 8.6% international
other 18.1% internal, 6.4% international
mixed 19.9% internal, 2.5% international
white other 16.1% internal, 3.5% international
white british 13.7% internal, 0.3% international

Why Norwich is changing

-7.1pp
National trend
-6.6pp
Age structure
-0.4pp
Local migration
-0.2pp

White British change 2011–2021. Cyan = decline. Amber = growth.

Dominant driver: national trend. Shift-share methodology following Franklin (2014).