More ethnic diversity in Yorkshire but fewer people following religion

Of the 5.3 million residents in the region in 2011, 85.8 per cent described themselves as white British.

This ranged from 96.3 per cent in Hambleton in North Yorkshire to 63.9 per cent in Bradford, which had the highest proportion in England and Wales of those describing themselves as Asian/Asian British:Pakistani at 20 per cent, totalling 107,000 people.

There were 465,000 foreign-born residents in the region in total, nine per cent of the population.

Some 89.1 per cent said they were born in England, followed by 1.6 per cent in Pakistan, 1.3 per cent Scotland and 0.9 per cent in Poland – although the proportion of Poles in Hull was double that.

The median age of the region was 39 but this ranged from 34 in Bradford to 47 in Craven.

Figures show 19 per cent of people had day-to-day activities limited by a long-term health problem or disability. Some 27.6 per cent of households had no car, ranging from 40.6 per cent in Hull to 13.3 per cent in Hambleton and Richmondshire.

There was a decrease in the region of 14 per cent in the number of people stating their religious affliliation as Christian, with 59 per cent describing themselves as followers in 2011.

Hull saw the biggest drop in the country at 16.8 per cent, with 25.9 per cent of people overall saying they had no religion in Yorkshire.

At 25 per cent, Bradford had the fourth highest proportion of Muslims of all local authorities in England and Wales.

Some 15,000 people in the region claimed they were Jedi knights.