What are the most populous Muslim communities in London?

1. East London: Tower Hamlets and Newham — the densest Muslim communities

Tower Hamlets and Newham stand out repeatedly across demographic studies and reports as London’s most concentrated Muslim communities: Tower Hamlets has been reported at roughly one-third of its population Muslim (about 34–36% in past analyses) and Newham similarly high (around 32% in earlier research), and both rank among the boroughs with the largest Muslim populations by absolute numbers in recent datasets ^{[4] [5] [3]}. Statista’s borough-level summary ranked Newham and Tower Hamlets as the second- and third-largest Muslim populations in England and Wales in 2016, underscoring both a high share and substantial absolute numbers in those east London boroughs ^[3].

2. Brent, Ealing and the west/inner clusters: large communities with long histories

Brent — long known for its South Asian and diverse Muslim communities — consistently appears near the top of lists of boroughs with large Muslim populations, and is frequently grouped with Ealing and parts of inner and west London as areas with substantial Muslim shares ^{[2] [5]}. Local histories and migration patterns have concentrated Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Somali, Arab and other Muslim communities across these boroughs, making them important social and religious centres beyond the East London core ^{[1] [5]}.

3. Other boroughs with significant Muslim populations: Hackney, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Camden, Haringey

A broader ring of boroughs shows significant Muslim presence: Hackney, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Camden and Haringey are repeatedly named in city and academic reports as having Muslim populations above ten percent or otherwise notable community presence ^{[5] [6]}. These boroughs reflect London’s patchwork of communities — East/inner-London neighbourhoods with strong mosque networks and community organisations that mirror historic settlement patterns and more recent migration ^{[5] [6]}.

4. North London and outer borough patterns: Barnet, Enfield and beyond

North London boroughs such as Barnet and Enfield host sizeable Muslim communities, often more dispersed and ethnically mixed (including Turkish, Algerian, Somali and other groups) than some East London concentrations; census and demographic summaries place these boroughs among those with notable Muslim populations though typically with lower percentages than Tower Hamlets or Newham ^{[1] [5]}. Academic reporting and community studies emphasise that London’s Muslim population is not monolithic but regionally varied in size, ethnicity and socioeconomic profile ^{[4] [6]}.

5. Caveats, sources and what the data can — and cannot — say

The picture above draws on multiple public summaries and academic reports: the 2021 census totals and borough breakdowns cited in city guides and encyclopaedic entries (giving ~1.32 million Muslims and 15% citywide) and earlier borough-level estimates published by Statista, CREST and community research that flag Tower Hamlets and Newham as the highest concentration boroughs ^{[1] [3] [4] [2]}. Differences in phrasing between “largest by share” and “largest by absolute numbers” can shift rankings (for example, a borough with a high percentage but smaller population differs from a populous borough with a moderate percentage); available snippets show consistent agreement on Newham, Tower Hamlets and Brent as among the most populous or highest-share Muslim communities, while also naming Hackney, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Ealing, Camden, Haringey, Barnet and Enfield as important centres ^{[3] [2] [5] [4] [6]}. Where the provided sources do not give a single, up-to-date borough ranking table from the 2021 census, this synthesis sticks to repeatedly cited boroughs and notes the limitation of relying on scattered summaries rather than a single ONS borough-by-borough table in the provided material ^{[1] [7]}.