Objective Few European studies examined frailty among older persons from diverse ethnic backgrounds. We aimed to examine the association of ethnic background with frailty. In addition, we explored the association of ethnic background with distinct components that are considered to be relevant for frailty. Design and setting This was a cross-sectional study of pooled data of The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey Minimum DataSet (TOPICS) in the Netherlands. Participants Community-dwelling persons aged 55 years and older with a Dutch, Indonesian, Surinamese, Moroccan or Turkish ethnic background were included (n=23 371). Measurements Frailty was assessed with the validated TOPICS-Frailty Index that consisted of 45 items. The TOPICS-Frailty Index contained six components: morbidities, limitations in activities of daily living (ADL), limitations in instrumental ADL, health-related quality of life, psychosocial health and self-rated health. To examine the associations of ethnic background with frailty and with distinct frailty components, we estimated multilevel random-intercept models adjusted for