Researchers at the University of Leeds have predicted that the UK’s ethnic minority population will increase dramatically over the next 40 years.

The UK’s ethnic minority population is expected to make up one-fifth of the population by 2051 – a growth of 16% compared with 2001 – while the mixed ethnic population is expected to treble in size, according to researchers at the University of Leeds.

Overall, the UK population is anticipated to grow by around 24%, from 59 million in 2001 to almost 78m in 2051.

White British, White Irish, and Black Caribbean groups are expected to experience the slowest growth over the next 40 years, while the Other White group – driven by immigration from Europe, Australasia, and the US – is expected to experience the biggest growth.

Traditional immigrant groups of south Asian origin (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) are also expected to grow rapidly in size.

Professor Philip Rees, Project Lead at the University of Leeds, said: “The ethnic makeup of UK’s population is evolving significantly. Groups outside the White British majority are increasing in size and share, not just in the areas of initial migration, but throughout the country and our projections suggest that this trend is set to continue through to 2051.

“At a regional level, ethnic minorities will shift out of deprived inner city areas to more affluent areas, which echoes the way white groups have migrated in the past. In particular black and Asian populations in the least deprived local authorities will increase significantly.”