Projections of the population by ethnic group: a sufficiently interesting or a definitely necessary exercise to undertake?

This article considers the range of needs which would be met by having available projections of the population by ethnic group, and, in particular, the rôle these projections would usefully play in informing current and future policy issues. The article first identifies and lists the main uses, and potential users, of such projections and gives an appraisal of the likely applications in each context. Some of the challenges involved in using the main datasources--the census and surveys--for making such projections are then addressed; the article considers what is measured by asking questions on ethnicity, and discusses the implications of ethnicity being self-assessed--two important considerations which affect the potential usefulness of ethnic projections. Finally, details are given of a co-operative project involving a multi-disciplinary team of academic experts to explore the feasibility of making such projections.