WHITE Brits now make up less than half of Croydon's population, new figures show.
Data from the 2011 Census shows 47.3 per cent - 171,878 of the borough's 363,378 population - described themselves as being "White British". In 2001, the figure stood at 63.7 per cent.
The second-largest ethnic group in Croydon was Black Caribbeans who make up 8.6 per cent - 31,251 people. Indians were the third largest group at 6.8 per cent - 24,710.
A total of 18 ethnic categories make up Croydon's population.
Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell said he was "privileged" to represent a borough so culturally diverse, but called for a "two-way street" between cultures to ensure further integration remains successful.
He said: "People from different backgrounds make a huge contribution economically, setting up businesses and working in our public services, and culturally, to our cultural life. I'm privileged as MP to say that.
"I think it is about people living here being welcomed to communities and people that come here making an effort to learn the language among other things. It is a two-way street.
"There is an issue about the pace of change. I would argue that during the previous Government the scale of change was too high.
"What we need to do is to make sure that people integrate properly into our society and I think Croydon is much better at doing that than most parts of the country."
Mr Barwell added it was "perfectly possible" to deliver public services effectively which accommodate people's varying needs amid growing diversity.
The statistics also show a sizeable decline in the proportion of Christians, with 56.4 per cent – 204,945 – who now consider themselves Christian, compared to 65.1 per cent – 218,150 – in 2001.
The number of Muslims, meanwhile has increased by almost half from 17,760 in 2001 to 29,434 last year.
Hinduism is the next fastest-growing religion with an increase from 5.1 to 6 per cent.
Other than Christianity, the only other religion to drop in its proportion was Judaism by 0.1 per cent.
The figures released to the Advertiser also show the largest age bracket in Croydon is 15-to-64-year-olds, which make up 67.4 per cent – 243,463.
The average age of the borough is 35. Woman also outnumber men, with 100 for every 94.2.
Full censuses measuring shifts in populations in each local authority jurisdiction across the UK have been taken every ten years since 1801.
