How much do British muslims contribute to the UK economy as of 2025
Executive summary
Estimates of British Muslims’ contribution to the UK economy in 2025 vary widely across sources: parliamentary remarks and community bodies cite figures from roughly £25 billion to £70 billion per year, reflecting different methods and scopes of measurement [1] [2] [3]. There is no single, universally accepted ONS-style total in the provided reporting, so the most accurate conclusion is a range underpinned by distinct definitions — business turnover/GVA, consumer spending power, or broader economic contribution — each producing different headline numbers [4] [5].
1. The headline numbers: £25bn, £31bn and £70bn — why they coexist
Parliamentary remarks recorded in Hansard state that “businesses owned by Muslims contribute £25 billion a year to the British economy,” a figure repeated in debate to highlight entrepreneurial activity and Islamic finance strength in the UK [1], while the Muslim Council of Britain’s past reporting put the community’s contribution at “£31 billion plus” in earlier analyses that focused on spending power and business activity [6] [7]. More recent advocacy research from Equi claims British Muslims generate “at least £70 billion a year” for the UK economy, a headline that appears across its reports and press coverage and that frames contribution more broadly to include jobs, innovation and wider economic effects [2] [3].
2. Different definitions drive different totals — spending power versus GVA versus ecosystem effects
The variation in these figures is explained by differing methodologies: older MCB and media reports emphasise consumer spending and the “Muslim pound” as a proxy for economic weight [6] [7], the Hansard citation focuses on value generated by Muslim-owned businesses [1], and the Equi reports aggregate broader measures including employment, innovation and indirect economic multipliers to arrive at a higher £70 billion estimate [4] [3]. The reporting available does not include a single ONS-style breakdown across those categories, so these numbers are not directly comparable without knowing each study’s exact method [4].
3. Context: population size, demographics and sectors where contributions concentrate
Speakers in Parliament and community reports point out that British Muslims number around 4 million, roughly 6% of the population, and that this demographic is disproportionately young — a potential “demographic dividend” for the labour market [1] [8] [9]. Reporting also highlights concentration in sectors such as finance (Islamic finance being a UK strength), food, retail and small-to-medium enterprises where Muslim entrepreneurship and consumer markets are visible contributors to local and national economies [1] [4].
4. Risks, agendas and sources to weigh when reading headline claims
Advocacy organisations and parliamentary speeches advance different institutional agendas — community groups often stress the economic stakes of discrimination and the “risk of exodus” if British Muslims feel unwelcome, a framing that can amplify estimates of economic loss if the community disengages [3]. Equi’s £70bn figure and the MCB’s historic £31bn both come from groups advocating for policy attention to Muslims’ economic role, while Hansard records a ministerial-style assertion that may have drawn on business-focused measures; none of the provided sources is a raw ONS dataset, so readers should treat headline totals as politically informed estimates rather than an uncontested official accounting [1] [2] [6] [3].
5. Conclusion — a defensible range and what is missing
Based on the reporting available, the defensible statement for 2025 is that British Muslims contribute tens of billions of pounds annually to the UK economy, with published estimates in the provided sources ranging from about £25 billion (business-owned contribution) to around £70 billion (broader economic contribution) per year, and historic/alternative figures like £31 billion cited in older MCB reporting [1] [6] [2] [3]. The precise “as of 2025” figure cannot be pinned down from the supplied materials because an authoritative, single-method official total (e.g., ONS-style GVA disaggregation by religion) is not present in these sources; verifying a definitive number would require access to the underlying methodologies or official economic tabulations not included here [4].