Which European city has the largest Muslim population in 2025 and what are the population figures?
Executive summary
Determining which single European city had the largest Muslim population in 2025 is not possible from the provided sources because none offer authoritative, city-level 2025 headcounts; however, two defensible conclusions emerge from available country- and regional-level data: if Turkey’s cities are counted as European, Istanbul almost certainly contained the largest Muslim urban population in Europe in 2025; if the question is limited to strictly European Union / Western European cities, the Paris metropolitan area is the likeliest contender given France’s status as the European country with the largest Muslim population (country-level estimates ~5–6 million) [1] [2].
1. Why city-level answers are scarce: data, definitions and politics
Population statistics for religious groups at city level are rarely collected consistently across countries because many European censuses do not record religion, definitions of “city” vary (municipal core vs. metropolitan area), and different studies use different methodologies and baselines—factors that make a precise, pan‑European 2025 city ranking impossible to assemble from the sources provided [3] [1].
2. If Turkey counts as Europe: Istanbul is the obvious frontrunner
Sources that treat parts of Turkey as European note that Turkey and several Balkan/Caucasus countries contain large indigenous Muslim populations, and by extension Istanbul—the country’s largest city—would be the single European city with the most Muslims if Istanbul is counted as a European city, but the supplied materials do not include a 2025 Istanbul-specific Muslim headcount to cite [2] [4].
3. If focusing on EU / Western Europe: Paris metro is the likeliest candidate
Among Western European countries, France is reported in multiple datasets as having the largest Muslim population in Europe (estimates around 5–6 million Muslims nationally), and Paris plus its suburbs host the country’s largest concentrations of Muslim communities, making the Paris metropolitan area the most plausible single non‑Turkish European city with the largest Muslim population in 2025—again, the sources offer robust country figures but do not provide a city‑level 2025 tally for Paris to quote precisely [1] [5].
4. How experts and organizations treat the question differently
Research organizations like Pew and think tanks focus on country‑level projections and scenarios (migration, fertility), not on up‑to‑the‑year city headcounts; urban case studies (for example, the Open Society Foundations’ comparative report) examine experiences in select cities—including Paris and Marseille—but do not attempt a comprehensive, directly comparable 2025 city ranking by Muslim population [3] [5].
5. Numbers that can be stated with confidence from the supplied sources
Based on the provided country‑level compilations, France is the single European country with the largest estimated Muslim population in recent datasets (roughly 5–6 million), followed by Germany and the UK in many lists; these country totals are the strongest empirical anchors available in the supplied reporting, but they do not translate into a single verifiable city‑level 2025 figure in the sources given [1] [6].
6. Alternative viewpoints and implicit agendas to watch for
Some outlets and commentators conflate country‑level totals with urban concentrations or treat Istanbul differently depending on political aims (for example, whether “Europe” is defined to include transcontinental Turkey); other sources that offer sharp city claims often rely on extrapolations or unpublished local surveys—readers should therefore treat any precise city‑level 2025 numbers with caution unless they come from a transparent, comparable methodology [2] [3].
7. Bottom line for a direct answer
The supplied reporting does not provide a verifiable, single‑city Muslim population figure for 2025; if counting Turkey as European, Istanbul is the strongest candidate though no 2025 city number is provided in these sources [2] [4]; if restricting to EU/Western Europe, the Paris metropolitan area is the most plausible candidate given France’s ~5–6 million Muslim population nationally, but a precise 2025 Paris‑area Muslim headcount is not available in the provided material [1] [5].