LONDON (newkerala.com) -- One third of people living in London were born outside the UK and Indians are the largest group among this foreign-born population, according to official figures released yesterday.

Out of a total population of 7,348,000 as on June 30 this year, the British-born in London accounted for 5,060,000 - 155,000 less than their figure on June 30, 1997.

The number of overseas-born residents now stands at 2,288,000, a record 31.1 percent of the total population of the city and over 650,000 more than in 1997.

Among the foreign-born, the Indian figure went up to 206,000 this year as against 144,000 in 1997 -- an increase of 62,000, according to the Office of National Statistics figures.

Meanwhile, the Irish population which was 185,000 in 1997 has declined to 114,000 this year.

The figures show that Indians, Bangladeshis, Russians, Brazilians, South Africans, Ghanaians, Poles and Australians lead the globalization of the British capital.

Interestingly, the population of Pakistanis in London has remained constant at 38,000 during the last nine years. The main reason being that they generally prefer to live in areas like Bradford, Manchester and Lancashire.

During the same period, the number of Bangladeshis in London went up from 71,000 to 133,000 -- an increase of 62,000.

The number of Russians who live in the capital has doubled to 14,000 in nine years, while the total number of Lithuanians, whose homeland recently joined the European Union, is up to 28,000.