Which London borough has the highest Muslim population as of 2021 Census and are there 2025 estimates?
Executive summary
The 2021 Census shows the London borough with the largest Muslim population by headcount is Tower Hamlets, with 123,912 Muslims, narrowly ahead of Newham, which recorded 122,146 (Muslim Council of Britain reporting cites ONS census data) [1][2]. Greater London contained about 1.32 million Muslims in 2021, roughly 15% of the capital’s population, but authoritative, official borough-level population projections for 2025 are not published in the sources provided — available 2025 estimates cited by analysts are derived from ONS mid‑year updates and modelling rather than new census counts [3][4][5].
1. Tower Hamlets top by count in 2021, according to census-derived analysis
Detailed tabulations drawn from the 2021 Census and highlighted in Muslim Council of Britain publications place the London Borough of Tower Hamlets as having the largest single-borough Muslim population at 123,912, with Newham immediately behind at 122,146, ranking both boroughs among the very largest local Muslim populations in the country [1][2]. National summaries and secondary reporting likewise identify east London — especially Tower Hamlets, Newham and nearby boroughs — as long-standing centres of dense Muslim settlement shaped by earlier migration patterns from South Asia and beyond, a pattern the 2021 Census data reinforced [3][6].
2. The citywide picture: scale and distribution in 2021
London’s Muslim population in 2021 is commonly reported at about 1.32 million people, representing roughly 15% of the capital’s total, making Islam the second-largest religion in London after Christianity; those figures appear both in summary reporting and aggregated census analyses referenced by the sources [3][4][6]. The distribution is uneven: concentrations are heavier in east and northeast boroughs (Tower Hamlets, Newham, Redbridge), while other boroughs such as Brent and parts of outer London also host substantial Muslim communities, so “largest borough” by count and “highest proportion” are related but distinct measures — Tower Hamlets tops by count in the cited reporting [3][4].
3. What about 2025 estimates — methods, not precise borough figures
Post‑census population figures for 2025 cited in the background sources are described as estimates derived from Office for National Statistics mid‑year population updates, net migration trends and age‑structure adjustments rather than fresh religion-specific enumeration; some compilers and guides use these ONS methods to project 2025–2026 values, but the sources provided do not publish authoritative, borough‑level 2025 Muslim counts comparable to the 2021 Census [4][5]. In short, while commentators and demographic guides offer modeled projections based on ONS mid‑year estimates, the material here does not contain a validated ONS release that lists 2025 Muslim population totals by London borough [4][5].
4. Caveats, competing emphases and institutional perspectives
Analysts such as the Muslim Council of Britain use the census findings to highlight policy issues — for example social deprivation patterns and service needs, and they list borough counts to underline resource and representation concerns, an interpretive frame that serves advocacy as well as statistical reporting [1][7]. Other secondary sources and encyclopedic summaries stress geographic dispersion and ethnic diversity among London’s Muslims, which can shift emphasis away from single-borough headcounts toward proportionate concentration or historical settlement patterns; these are different lenses on the same census data and reflect varied agendas: advocacy groups focus on social outcomes while encyclopedic accounts foreground distribution and history [3][6][1].
5. Conclusion and limits of the available reporting
The best available, census‑based answer from the supplied sources is that Tower Hamlets had the largest Muslim population in London in 2021 , with Newham a close second , and Greater London counted roughly 1.32 million Muslims overall [1][2][4][3]; however, the sources do not provide a definitive set of borough‑level Muslim population estimates for 2025 — only that post‑2021 figures are typically modelled from ONS mid‑year estimates and demographic projection methods rather than direct enumeration [4][5]. Any precise 2025 borough breakdown would therefore rely on local modelling assumptions or a future official release not contained in the reporting supplied here.