Muslim population in UK Almost Doubles in Less Than a Decade

The figure of 2.87 million was first published by Pew in a little-noticed press release last September, announcing a report on Muslim Networks and Movements in Western Europe. The Pew Centre, based in Washington DC, is one of the most respected demographic research bodies in the world; its methodology is scrupulous and its approach non-partisan. The new total for British Muslims means that, so far as this country as concerned, Pew’s major 2009 report Mapping the Global Muslim Population is already spectacularly out of date. Here’s a map showing the updated distribution of the Muslim population in Europe:

The material about global Islam in the 2010 report is fascinating, but it’s the revision of British figures that took me by surprise. Why was it not more widely reported in the autumn? And what are the implications for society? For an analysis that puts the statistics in context, let me recommend this article from the British Religion In Numbers website, which makes the point that the 2001 figure was probably an underestimate.

Pew’s UK figure for 2010 is 2,869,000, which is equivalent to 4.6% of the population. In absolute terms, the UK has the third largest Muslim community on the continent, after Germany (4,119,000) and France (3,574,000).

In percentage terms, the UK is in ninth position, after Belgium (6.0%), France, Austria and Switzerland (5.7%), The Netherlands (5.5%), Germany (5.0%), Sweden (4.9%) and Greece (4.7%). UK Muslims account for 16.8% of all Muslims in Western Europe.