Languages statistics for Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)
Last updated: 15 January 2026
Next review: 10 June 2026
This content is part of the Waltham Forest JSNA. To see other JSNA content, visit the JSNA landing page
In Waltham Forest, 78% of residents aged three and over speak English as their main language. Nearly a quarter of the population (22%) don’t speak English as their main language (60,000 in total). This is similar to the London average (22%), and considerably higher than across England as whole (9%).
Source: Office for National Statistics – Census 2021 Data Date accessed: 09 March 2023.
Most of the Waltham Forest residents who don’t speak English as their main language report speaking English ‘well’ or ‘very well’. According to the 2021 Census, around 11,500 people (4.3% of population aged three and over) don’t speak English well, and 1,700 (0.6%) cannot speak English at all. This is similar to the London averages (3.6%, and 0.6% respectively), but above the England averages (1.6%, and 0.3% respectively).
Source: Office for National Statistics – Census 2021. Date accessed: 09/03/2023
Other than English, Romanian is now the most commonly spoken main language across the borough (spoken by 10,000 residents, increasing from around 4,000 people in 2011), followed by Urdu (4,800 residents), Bulgarian (4,400 residents), Polish (4,300 residents) and Turkish (3,500 residents). Italian and Spanish were both new entrants into the top 10 most-spoken languages in the borough.
| Language | 2021 Census | 2011 Census | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romanian | 10,600 | 4,000 | +162% |
| Urdu | 4,800 | 8,000 | -40% |
| Bulgarian | 4,400 | 2,200 | +104% |
| Polish | 4,300 | 8,000 | -47% |
| Turkish | 3,500 | 3,900 | -11% |
| Spanish | 2,500 | 1,500 | +60% |
| Portuguese | 2,200 | 1,900 | +16% |
| Panjabi | 2,000 | 3,000 | -32% |
| Italian | 2,000 | 1,000 | +95% |
| Tamil | 1,800 | 2,400 | -23% |
Source: Office for National Statistics – Census 2021 Data Date accessed: 09 March 2023
