The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 5 December 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question regarding the number of residents of London estimated to be from ethnic minorities. I am replying in her absence. (107194)
The ONS’ experimental Population Estimates by Ethnic Group estimate that, at mid-2004, 2.2 million of the 7.4 million people resident in London (30.2%) were from an ethnic group other than the White ethnic group.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 5 December 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding the 20 largest foreign language communities in London. I am replying in her absence. (107195)
The Office for National Statistics does not produce estimates of the number of people speaking different languages in London, although the topic of language is being considered for inclusion in the 2011 Census. Some exploratory estimates on language have been carried out by academics working on the topic, based on school administrative records of pupils’ first language spoken at home.
The Labour Force Survey collects information every 3 years about adults' first language spoken at home. This focuses on UK languages and would not fully answer your query. However, you may be interested to know that estimates from the 2003 Labour Force Survey showed that just under one in five (18 per cent) of Londoners aged 16 and over use a first language other than English at home (see Greater London Authority, DMAG briefing 2006 no. 26: ‘A profile of Londoners by language: an analysis of Labour Force Survey data on first language’ http://www.london.gov.uk/gla/publications/factsandfigures/dmag-briefing-2006-26.pdf).