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U.K. Muslim Population Surges

by Daniel Pipes
January 30, 2009

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Richard Kerbaj, seconded from the Australian to London's Times looks today at Muslim population figures in Great Britain. He finds that in the four years 2004-08:

The Muslim population grew by 535,000, from under 1.9 million to over 2.4 million.
It multiplied 10 times faster than the rest of society during that period.
The Christian population fell by more than 2 million to 42.6 million during that period.
The largest Muslim population is in the under-4 bracket, while the largest Christian population is in the over-70s.

Specifically, the Labour Force Survey of around 53,000 homes estimates the total number of Muslims as follows:

2004: 1,887,000
2005: 2,017,000
2006: 2,142,000
2007: 2,327,000
2008: 2,422,000

Specialists attribute the increase to immigration, a higher birthrate, conversions to Islam, and a growing willingness of Muslims to describe themselves as such.

Comment: It would be a mistake to extrapolate linearly either the Muslim increase or the Christian decline, but it would also be a mistake to ignore the implications of such a straight-line exercise. (January 30, 2009)

Related Topics: Demographics, Muslims in the United Kingdom receive the latest by email: subscribe to daniel pipes' free mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.