Harborough

East Midlands · England
Location map showing Harborough highlighted against neighbouring local authorities.
-22.8pp WBI 87.5% → 64.8% by 2051 (20-group HP, Census-direct, SNPP-constrained)
97,623 Population (2021 Census)
87.5% White British (2021)
75.1% -12.4pp White British (2041 projected)
64.8% -22.8pp White British (2051 projected)

Ethnic composition trajectory

Census 2011 and 2021 observed, Hamilton-Perry projections to 2061. Shaded band shows 80% confidence interval for White British share.

Ethnic composition, Harborough

0 24 49 73 98 % Census 2021 Illustrative White British 52% White Other 5% Asian 36% Mixed 5% 20112021203120412051
White British White Other Asian Mixed 80% CI

Ethnic composition: Harborough

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

2011
93%
2021
88%
2031 proj
82%
9%
2041 proj
75%
15%
2051 proj
65%
24%
2061 proj
52%
36%
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed Other

Two-model comparison: White British, 2051

±1.3pp spread
Hamilton-Perry (HP) central 64.8% Cohort change ratios from Census 2011 to 2021. Demographic momentum only, no fertility convergence.
Cohort-component 63.5% Births by ethnicity-specific total fertility rate (TFR) with half-convergence to the national mean by 2061. Slower change.

Two independent models trained on the same Census base disagree by 1.3pp on White British share in Harborough by 2051. HP captures observed 2011 to 2021 cohort dynamics. The cohort-component model adds explicit fertility assumptions that pull projections toward the national mean. The chart above shows HP. See the methodology for why both numbers are published.

Scenario explorer

Under different assumptions, White British share in Harborough ranges from 47.1% to 69.8% by 2051: a 22.7pp 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 54.9% by 2051

What’s driving change

Shift-share splits the change in White British share into national trend, age structure, and local factors. Dominant driver: national trend.

Why Harborough is changing

-5.3pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
-1pp
Local migration
+2.1pp

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

Diversity index

low diversity Shannon entropy: 0.30 · Dissimilarity: 13.5

Religion

Census 2021 religious composition with projections to 2051.

Religious composition trajectory

0 18 37 55 73 % Census 2021 Christian 11% No religion 68% Muslim 6% Hindu 9% Sikh 5% 2021203120412051
Christian No religion Muslim Hindu Sikh

Country of birth

UK-born vs foreign-born share, with projection to 2051.

Nativity trajectory

2 26 50 74 98 % Census 2021 UK-born 62% Foreign-born 38% 2021203120412051
UK-born Foreign-born

English proficiency

Census 2021

Main language English97.2%
Main language not English2.8%
Cannot speak English well0.3%
Cannot speak English at all0.1%
Total population 3+94,858

ONS Census 2021 (TS029) via NOMIS. Reference date 21 March 2021.

Projection

Projected non-English growth +12.4pp

Interpreter demand is manageable at current levels.

Service demand pressure

34/100 Low Pressure Rank 184 of 320
Ethnic change19/20
Asylum0/20
School0/20
Language0/20
Housing16/20

New arrivals (NINo registrations)

Adults from overseas registering for a National Insurance number, rolling year ending Oct-25 to Dec-25. Harborough ranks at the 6th percentile nationally for total NINo registrations.

Registrations (rolling year)63
Year-on-year -13.7%
NationalityRegistrationsShare
India 20 31.7%
Ukraine 16 25.4%
Turkey 10 15.9%
Zimbabwe 6 9.5%
United States 6 9.5%
Kenya 5 7.9%

DWP National Insurance number allocations to adult overseas nationals (Stat-Xplore NINO database).. NINo registrations measure new arrivals into the National Insurance system, not total foreign-born population. A NINo is allocated when an overseas national requests one, usually to start work or claim benefits, so the figure misses students and dependants who never enter the labour market. Small (LA × nationality) cells are suppressed by Stat-Xplore for disclosure control.

Arrivals over the last 24 years

Annual NINo registrations to adults from overseas in Harborough from 2002 to 2025, alongside the UK total for context. The peak year was 2022 (284 registrations). Total over the full period: 2,437 registrations.

071142213284 0k268k537k805k1073k 200220052010201520202025 peak 2022 (284) low 2003 (16) Harborough (annual) UK (annual)

DWP Stat-Xplore, NINO Registrations to Adult Overseas Nationals Entering the UK (Ninos cube), aggregated per calendar year by summing the four constituent quarters. Geography: ONS LA codes. Counts are NEW NINo registrations per calendar year. A NINo is issued once per person at the point of first work or claim, so this is a flow measure, not a stock. People who arrive but never register (some students, dependants, retirees) are excluded. Late registrations show in a later year than the year of arrival. Pre-2010 figures used a different administrative system; series is comparable but small methodological revisions to the early years are possible.

Who is arriving

Age and sex profile of 67 NINo registrations to adults from overseas in Harborough in 2025. National comparison shown alongside.

Age at registration

Less than 18 10.4%
18-24 37.3%
25-29 16.4%
30-34 17.9%
35-39 10.4%
50-54 7.5%

Harborough   UK marker

Sex

Male 29.9% Female 70.1%

Male share is 24.5pp lower than the UK average (54.4%).

DWP Stat-Xplore Ninos cube, LA × Age band × Sex, rolling year ending Q4 2025 (Jan-Dec 2025 calendar year). Counts are NEW NINo registrations to adult overseas nationals. Age is age at NINo registration, not age at arrival. The registration may follow arrival by months. 'Less than 18' is rare in this dataset because the published Ninos series is filtered to adult overseas nationals; values reflect young workers/claimants close to 18. 'Unknown' age is a small residual.

Why people are coming

For each of the top arriving nationalities in Harborough, this is the national mix of visa routes used in 2025. It shows whether arrivals from that country are typically students, workers, on family routes (including refugee family reunion), or in some other category. Local-authority breakdowns of visa routes are not published, so we apply the national mix at nationality level.

India 20 in Harborough (31.7%)
Mostly students UK total 129,772 NINos · 159,236 non-visitor visas issued 2025
Ukraine 16 in Harborough (25.4%)
Most Ukrainians arrive on in-country Ukraine schemes not captured in entry-clearance data UK total 13,167 NINos · 2,311 non-visitor visas issued 2025
Turkey 10 in Harborough (15.9%)
Predominantly students UK total 7,662 NINos · 11,600 non-visitor visas issued 2025
Zimbabwe 6 in Harborough (9.5%)
Mostly workers UK total 5,097 NINos · 6,767 non-visitor visas issued 2025
United States 6 in Harborough (9.5%)
No entry-clearance visa data. United States is non-visa-national or in the Common Travel Area, so visa-route mix is not informative for this country. NINo flow is the better signal.

Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2026 (released 21 May 2026); Vis_D02 (Entry clearance visa outcomes by nationality, visa type, and outcome). Joined with DWP Stat-Xplore NINo registrations rolling year ending Q4 2025. Visa grants are issued at the point of entry-clearance application and are NOT the same population as NINo registrations. Visitor visas (2.24 million in 2025) do not lead to NINo and are excluded from the route-mix percentages so the Work / Study / Family / Other proportions are interpretable. Humanitarian routes (BN(O), Ukraine schemes, Resettlement, Asylum) are surfaced as national totals only because the same nationality split is not provided in this dataset. EU/EEA nationals largely fall outside entry-clearance for short stays, so their NINo flow is materially understated by visa data alone.

How Harborough changed: 2011 to 2021

Two snapshots from two consecutive Censuses, ten years apart. Population changed from 85,382 in 2011 to 97,627 in 2021 (+14.3%). Non-UK-born residents went from 4,583 (5.4% of population) to 7,010 (7.2%).

Group 2011 2021 Change
UK-born 80,799 94.6% 90,617 92.8% +9,818
Ireland-born 388 0.5% 360 0.4% -28
EU pre-2001 (France, Germany, Italy, etc.) 729 0.9% 1,055 1.1% +326
EU 2001-2011 accession (Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, etc.) 627 0.7% 1,167 1.2% +540
Rest of World 2,839 3.3% 4,428 4.5% +1,589

Source: ONS Census 2011 KS204EW (NOMIS NM_611_1) and Census 2021 TS012 (NOMIS NM_2032_1), aligned to broad country-of-birth groups. 2011 data uses 2011 LA boundaries; 2021 data uses 2023 boundaries. LAs whose ONS code changed between Censuses (Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, North Yorkshire, Somerset reorganisations) are not in this comparison.

Working and not working, by passport group

Census 2021 employment status of Harborough residents aged 16 and over, by passport held. Three numbers shown per group:

Passport group Pop 16+ In work Unemployed Inactive Employment rate
UK passport 70,105 63.5% 1.8% 34.7% 97.6%
Irish passport 319 58.9% 2.8% 38.2% 95.4%
EU member country passport 1,594 79.5% 2.6% 17.8% 97.0%
Rest of Europe (non-EU) 104 61.5% 3.8% 34.6% 94.0%
African passport 236 50.4% 3.8% 45.8% 94.1%
Middle East / Asian passport 366 57.9% 4.1% 38.0% 93.7%
Americas / Caribbean passport 163 60.1% 3.7% 36.2% 94.2%
Oceania / Antarctica passport 86 74.4% 0.0% 25.6% 100.0%
No passport held 7,457 30.4% 2.4% 67.2% 93.1%

ONS Census 2021 RM021, Economic activity status by passports held, by local authority district. NOMIS NM_2121_1. Stock measure on Census Day (21 March 2021). Passports-held is a proxy for nationality (UK = UK passport holder). Employment rate excludes full-time students from the denominator (the standard ONS definition). The 'inactive' category includes retirees, full-time students who do not work, those looking after family, long-term sick, and other reasons.

Schools, first language

Across 49 state-funded schools in Harborough (15,422 pupils, 2024/25), 5.2% have a first language other than English. The published Leicestershire-wide upper-tier figure is much lower because it averages every district in the county; this is the genuine Harborough number.

Pupils with first language other than English721 (5.2%)
Pupils with first language English12,767 (92.9%)
Free school meals11.7%

Source: DfE Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics 2024/25, school-level data aggregated to district. EAL (English as Additional Language) is a household-level signal: children born in the UK to non-English-speaking households count as EAL.

East Midlands labour market

Payrolled employments in the East Midlands region (December 2024). Provides Harborough with regional context. Local-authority RTI is not published; the region is the smallest geography for HMRC's nationality breakdown.

Total employments2,344,400
Non-UK share17.7%
5-year change · Non-EU +137,000
5-year change · EU -23,000

Top industries by non-UK share (East Midlands)

Administrative and support services 36.5%
Transportation and storage 28.9%
Health and social work 24.5%
Manufacturing 21.1%
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 19.1%

Source: HMRC Real Time Information via ONS, payrolled employments by region and industrial sector, July 2014 to December 2024. Counts are employments not employees; suppressed cells appear as missing.

Crime

Police-recorded crime rates per 1,000 population, Year ending March 2024. Harborough ranks at the 8th percentile nationally for total crime rate.

Total crime / 1k47.5
Violent crime / 1k18.3
Theft / 1k14.1
ASB / 1k3.1
Drug offences / 1k0.8
Year-on-year -8.8%

ONS recorded crime by Community Safety Partnership area, year ending March 2024 (Home Office police recorded crime). LA-level rates are CSP rates inherited where multiple LAs share a CSP.. Police recorded crime is shaped by recording practice, reporting rates, and policing priority. Cross-area comparison must take account of those factors. Hate crime and quality-of-life detail are not in this file.

Adult social care

Adult social care for Harborough residents is delivered by Leicestershire County Council. Figures below are the county-wide ASC profile.

Council ASC spend, residential placements, and quality-of-life outcomes, 2023-24. Spend per head sits at the 0th percentile nationally.

NHS Digital ASCFR & SALT data tables 2023-24 (CASSR-level). Quality-of-life and DToC fields omitted (DToC discontinued post-COVID; ASCOF measures live in a separate publication).. ASC sits with upper-tier authorities only (counties, unitaries, London boroughs, mets); ~153 LAs in coverage and districts are not present. Spending is shaped by demographic composition, deprivation, and informal-care availability and direct cross-area comparison must control for those.

Health by ethnic group

Share reporting "not good health" in each of Harborough's largest ethnic groups, Census 2021.

White 15.6%
White: English 15.7%
Asian 9.2%

ONS Census 2021 (RM043 - General health by ethnic group by age) via NOMIS. All ages, no age-standardisation: younger ethnic-group populations will show lower rates partly because they're younger, not necessarily because they're healthier. Group labels shortened for display.

How NHS care for overseas residents is funded (national context)

Most non-UK residents in Harborough pay for NHS care up-front through the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), which is added to most visa applications. Asylum seekers, refugees, ILR holders and Irish citizens are exempt. Visitors and undocumented residents are charged at 150% of the national NHS tariff. The figures below are England + Wales national totals; per-LA NHS cost-recovery is not centrally published.

Current IHS rate (adult, per year) £1,035
IHS rate, students/under-18s (per year) £776
IHS revenue 2024/25 (£m) £1,315.6m
Cumulative IHS revenue 2015–2024 £6.9bn
IHS rate history
  • From 2015-04-06: £200/year adult, £150/year students/under-18s
  • From 2019-01-08: £400/year adult, £300/year students/under-18s
  • From 2020-10-27: £624/year adult, £470/year students/under-18s
  • From 2024-02-06: £1035/year adult, £776/year students/under-18s
Indicative charges for visitors and undocumented residents

Maternity care is classified as "immediately necessary": it cannot be refused or delayed for charging, but it is invoiced afterwards at 150% of the NHS national tariff.

  • Routine vaginal delivery, no complications: £3,000–£5,500
  • Caesarean section: £5,000–£7,500
  • Premature birth with NICU stay: £15,000–£30,000+
  • Antenatal appointment: £150–£400 each

Sources: NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 (as amended); Home Office IHS caseworker guidance (Sept 2025); House of Commons Library briefing CBP-7274; NHS England NHS Payment Scheme (national tariff). Approximately 80% of identified overseas-visitor debt across all NHS treatment is uncollected (NAO, follow-up scrutiny).

Economic profile

Avg employment rate58.8%
Avg home ownership72.7%
Avg social rent8.3%
Degree or above35.5%
No qualifications12.8%

Housing

Composition today

How dwellings in Harborough are occupied. Single-person households and houses in multiple occupation are the two cleanest signals.

Single-person discount take-up31.2%
Dwellings on 25% single-person discount13,677
HMO dwellings (Census 2021)17
HMOs per 1,000 population0.17

Sources: MHCLG Council Taxbase 2024 (CTB1, snapshot 7 October 2024) for single-person discount; ONS Census 2021 RM192 for HMO dwellings. HMO Census numbers reflect dwellings classified as HMO on Census Day; current licensing registers held by individual councils are not centrally published.

Tenure by ethnic group

Household ownership rates for Harborough's largest ethnic groups, Census 2021.

White: owned 77.7%
White: English: owned 78.4%
Asian: owned 88.0%

ONS Census 2021 (RM134 - Tenure by ethnic group, Household Reference Persons) via NOMIS. Group labels shortened for display.

Tenure projection

Census 2021 tenure patterns by ethnicity, projected to 2041 from demographic composition change.

Ownership (2021)72.7%
Social rent (2021)8.3%
Private rent (2021)12.9%
Ownership (2041)64.6%
Social rent (2041)7.6%
Social rent change-0.7pp

High foreign-born population growth will drive additional housing demand, particularly in the private rented sector.

Westminster constituencies

Parliamentary constituencies overlapping Harborough, sorted by share of LA postcodes the constituency covers.

Updated 14 Apr 2026 · Census 2021, ONS SNPP, DfE School Census