Mozambican Community in Birmingham

Where they come from

Mozambique lies on the south-east coast of Africa, along the Indian Ocean, with long beaches and coral islands. It was a Portuguese colony until 1975, and Portuguese is the official language. Mozambicans in Britain include students, professionals and families.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 10,239 people living in the city had been born in Southern and Eastern African countries other than Kenya, Somalia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, a group that includes Mozambique.

Working for Birmingham

Mozambican residents study and work in healthcare, education, business and engineering, and many speak Portuguese as well as English, a useful skill in Birmingham, which has growing Portuguese and Brazilian communities. Their energy and enterprise add to the city's international workforce.

The city's future rests on the same things as its past: skills, enterprise and people willing to put in the hours. Whether in a hospital, a classroom, a lecture theatre, a van full of tools or a shop on a busy high street, Mozambican residents are helping to build that future, and to make Birmingham a stronger, fairer and more welcoming city.

Culture and community life

Peri-peri, the fiery chilli sauce, has its roots in the Portuguese and African cooking of Mozambique, and prawns and matapa, cassava leaves in peanut sauce, are favourites. Marrabenta music and the timbila xylophone orchestras of the Chopi people, recognised by UNESCO, are proud traditions.

The story of the Mozambican community in Birmingham is still being written, by students, workers, parents and pensioners who call the city home. It is a story of hard work, friendship and quiet pride, and Birmingham is richer for it.