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Which UK cities have the highest and lowest Muslim populations in 2025?
Executive Summary
The available analyses agree that major UK cities with the largest Muslim populations in 2025 are concentrated in metropolitan and northern urban areas, with Birmingham, parts of Greater London (notably Tower Hamlets and Newham), Bradford, Manchester, Leicester, Luton and Blackburn with Darwen among the places repeatedly cited as having the highest Muslim numbers or shares [1] [2] [3]. The sources also emphasize that no major city held an overall Muslim majority by 2021 census baselines and that rankings shift depending on whether one uses absolute counts, percentage share, or sub-local authority borough figures; lowest Muslim shares are implied in many rural or Northern Ireland areas where Muslims remain a small fraction [4] [5].
1. Big-city concentration: Why analysts point to Birmingham, London boroughs, Bradford and Manchester as top spots
Multiple analyses identify Birmingham as a leading city for absolute Muslim population, citing historical census and estimate series that placed Birmingham at the top in earlier data runs [3] [1]. Greater London as a whole is noted to contain the single largest regional Muslim count, with borough-level concentration strongest in Tower Hamlets and Newham, where borough estimates and 2021 census-based reporting show very high Muslim shares—Tower Hamlets is highlighted for near-40% proportional representation in one analysis [1] [2]. Analysts emphasize that urban migration patterns, long-standing community settlement, and local authority boundaries mean city-level comparisons often hide borough-level extremes, so lists of “highest” cities mix absolute counts in large conurbations with disproportionately high percentage shares in smaller boroughs [1] [2].
2. How metrics change the map: counts versus shares and the problem of comparing apples to oranges
The underlying analyses repeatedly warn that which places top the list depends on metric choice: absolute counts favour big population centres like Birmingham and Greater London, while percentage shares elevate smaller authorities and single boroughs such as Tower Hamlets or Blackburn with Darwen [1] [3]. One source explicitly notes the 2021 Census found no major city with an outright Muslim majority, placing cities such as Bradford, Birmingham and Leicester in the 30–33% range when measured by share in some local authorities rather than entire urban footprints [4]. This metric-dependence produces differing “top ten” lists across analyses and explains why some reports name Slough or Luton while others focus on London boroughs or West Midlands local authorities [1] [2].
3. The lower end: where Muslim populations register lowest shares and why that matters
While none of the provided analyses supplies a definitive ranked list of cities with the lowest Muslim populations in 2025, they consistently imply lowest shares occur in many rural regions and parts of the UK with historically small Muslim communities, including large parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland where Muslims comprised a fractional share—Northern Ireland cited at about 0.6% in one overview [5] [4]. The absence of explicit low-rank listings in the supplied material reflects both data sparsity at fine geographic levels in recent summaries and the analytic focus on urban concentrations; nevertheless the pattern is clear: small towns and many non-metropolitan local authorities will appear at the bottom by percentage share and often by absolute counts [5] [4].
4. Data vintage and uncertainty: relying on 2016 estimates, 2021 census baselines, and 2025 extrapolations
The analyses draw on a mixture of 2016 estimates, the 2021 Census baseline, and interpretive 2025 extrapolations or reporting; this mix creates unavoidable uncertainty about precise 2025 rankings [3] [4] [6]. One analyst notes Birmingham led 2016 estimates, while 2021 census material reasserts urban concentration without granting any outright Muslim-majority city; borough-level 2021 counts for London (Tower Hamlets, Newham) are referenced to show very high local percentages [3] [4] [2]. The sources together caution that 2025 lists rest on extrapolations from earlier official counts and different sampling frames, so year-to-year shifts in rankings are possible and small differences in methodology can materially alter who appears “highest” or “lowest” [1] [3].
5. What’s missing, and how to read these lists responsibly
The supplied analyses reveal two persistent gaps: no single, consistently dated 2025 authority list across both absolute and percentage metrics is presented, and few sources enumerate explicit “lowest” city rankings, instead inferring low shares from region-level summaries [7] [8]. Readers should therefore treat any single headline ranking with caution and note whether it reports absolute counts, percentage shares, borough versus city footprints, or regional aggregates. The sources collectively advise that policy, media and public discourse should differentiate between concentration and majority, and specify the metric and geographic unit used, because these choices change both public perception and the policy implications of any claim about which UK cities have the highest or lowest Muslim populations [4] [1].