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Which European cities have the largest Muslim populations and what are their demographic profiles?
Executive summary
Paris (and its wider metropolitan area) is repeatedly named in available reporting as the single European city-area with the largest Muslim population — Pew/INSEE-based summaries put Paris metro Muslims at up to roughly 2.5 million in recent years [1]. National-level estimates show France, Germany and the UK as the largest European countries by absolute Muslim numbers, and Pew and related work stress that Muslim populations in Europe are younger and have higher fertility rates than non-Muslims — trends that shape city demographics [2] [3].
1. Which cities are identified as having the largest Muslim populations — the short list
Reporting and compiled lists consistently single out Paris (including its metropolitan area) as having the largest concentration of Muslims in Europe [1] [4]. Other European cities frequently highlighted in city-level studies and reports as major centres of Muslim life include London (various boroughs), Berlin, Hamburg, Marseille, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Stockholm — these appear in comparative city reports such as the Open Society Foundations’ “Muslims in Europe” city series [5]. Country-level compilations and rankings place cities like Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne as important German centres [6].
2. How “largest” is being measured — population vs. share vs. metro area
Sources use different metrics. Some refer to absolute numbers in a metropolitan area (e.g., Paris metro ~2.5 million Muslims cited in Wiki-derived lists referencing INSEE/Pew figures) [1]. Others compare city shares or neighbourhood concentrations (for example, Brussels is described in some summaries as having high local concentrations even if national totals are smaller) [7]. The Open Society city reports examine neighbourhood-level experiences rather than claiming strict rank-order counts, stressing that city snapshots are not fully representative [5].
3. Demographic profile: age, fertility and migration patterns
Pew Research analysis and related summaries emphasize two broad demographic points: European Muslims are, on average, younger than non-Muslim populations, and have higher fertility rates — Pew’s modelling finds Muslim women averaged about 2.2 children versus 1.5 for non-Muslim women in Europe in the datasets used, although that fertility gap is projected to narrow over time [8] [2]. Pew’s methods also incorporate international migration and project different scenarios depending on future flows [2].
4. Origins, diversity and local variations
Available reporting stresses that Muslim populations in European cities are highly diverse by origin and history. Western European Muslim communities often trace roots to post‑war migration (e.g., North African, Turkish, South Asian origins) while sizeable indigenous Muslim populations exist in the Balkans and parts of Russia and the Caucasus [9]. City-level snapshots (Open Society) deliberately sample varied neighbourhoods to capture that diversity across Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Leicester, London boroughs, Marseille, Paris and Stockholm [5].
5. Sources disagree or are imprecise—why counts vary
Different sources produce different numbers because of methodology and definitions: some count “people of Muslim background” vs. those who self-identify actively as Muslim; some use administrative census religion questions (which many countries do not collect consistently), while others rely on survey estimates and demographic modelling [9] [2]. That produces the familiar pattern: Pew/Statista country estimates (e.g., France as highest nationally) differ in detail from SEO-driven 2025 compilations and older Wikipedia-derived city tables [3] [7] [1].
6. What city-level reporting emphasises beyond counts (social context)
The Open Society Foundations’ city reports emphasise lived experience, discrimination, policy responses and neighbourhood-level dynamics rather than raw totals; they caution their samples are not nationally representative and are intended to inform local policy [5]. Pew’s work frames demographic trends as one input into policy debates (migration, fertility, age structure) and highlights uncertainty tied to future migration scenarios [2].
7. Caveats, limitations and what reporting does not say
Available sources do not provide a definitive, harmonised 2025 ranking of cities by Muslim population using identical methods; they also do not offer up-to-the-month census-level counts for every major city (not found in current reporting). Several web summaries (including SEO articles) present 2025 numbers or projections (e.g., Belgium/Brussels figures quoted in one outlet) but those are aggregated from differing sources and are not universally corroborated across the datasets provided here [7].
8. Takeaway for readers and policymakers
If you need a conservative, widely cited reference: Pew/INSEE-derived material and compiled lists identify Paris metro as Europe’s largest single urban Muslim population and place France, Germany and the UK as countries with the largest totals [1] [3]. For policy or neighbourhood work, use city-level qualitative studies (e.g., Open Society’s 11-city series) to understand diversity of experiences, and treat absolute city rankings as indicative rather than exact because methodology and data collection differ across sources [5] [2].