The Zimbabwean community in the UK is extremely diverse, consisting of individuals of differing racial, ethnic, class, and political groups.

The second major wave lasted from 1990–97, caused by the economic hardship that resulted from Zimbabwe's application of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's Structural Adjustment Programme.

[8] In contrast, wealthier Zimbabweans tend to have an easier route to the UK, with many having family or ancestral ties to the country, while others are able to arrive as skilled professionals, investors or students, making the community wealthier than arrivals from other countries in Africa and more comparable to South African or Australian Britons.

[9] Beginning as early as 1965, after the Rhodesian Unilateral Declaration of Independence, Zimbabweans began move to Britain permanently, settling in places that offered greater access to employment, establishing significant communities in Greater London; Berkshire; Buckinghamshire; Hertfordshire, as well as Reading, Luton, Slough and Milton Keynes.

[10] There are also smaller communities of Zimbabwean Britons in Leeds, Greater Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol.

Additionally, a disproportionate number of Jewish Zimbabweans are represented in the UK compared to similar communities in Australia and South Africa.

[18] Studies have pointed to the higher rate of English use among Zimbabweans, their willingness to marry non-Zimbabweans, and their eagerness to become naturalised citizens as factors that contribute to their rapid assimilation, as well as their interactions with the greater British-born community.