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AIBU?

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Original poster

UK-born Londoners, are your friends mostly British or mixed?

105 replies

Comfortable8520 · 19/02/2026 17:15

Random curiosity question for those who were born in the UK, and currently live in London.

How mixed are your friendship groups in terms of background or where people originally come from?

I've lived here for 17 years and recently noticed that many of my close friends are also from abroad. I'm wondering whether others find their social circles naturally end up quite international, or not really. Would be interesting to hear people's experiences.

By friendship I mean people you genuinely consider close friends, those you would meet outside work or structured settings, stay in touch with, invite to your home, rely on for support, etc., rather than just friendly colleagues or casual social contacts.

You are unreasonable = I'm British born and have plenty of close friends from all over the world.

You are NOT unreasonable= I'm British born and most of my close friends are from here.

OP posts:
goz · 19/02/2026 17:33

I’ve recently left but lived in London for 2 decades. Generally in the child rearing years we mostly had international friends because it was a similar lifestyle, friends were family, everyone chipped in with kids and favours and making lives easier.
Generally my London born friends had a majority London born friendship group, mostly because they had those bonds from school, or via family and those people were more rooted in the area for them.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 19/02/2026 17:33

I'm not in London but I'm British and have friends who were born all over the place.

AudHvamm · 19/02/2026 17:30

As I've got older it's become less international as people have left London for other areas of the UK or to return to their / their partner's home countries when they have kids.

Catza · 19/02/2026 17:28

I am not British born but most of my friends and former partners are/were Brits so even on that basis I am going to assume that friendship groups in London are pretty mixed.

staringatthesun · 19/02/2026 17:26

My circle is a real mixture, some Brits but also Indian, German, Australian, French, Syrian, Polish and Jamaican.