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Which UK cities have the largest Muslim communities?
Executive Summary
The available data shows Birmingham and parts of London as the largest concentrations of Muslims in the UK, with other major centres including Bradford, Manchester and Newham/Tower Hamlets in London; figures differ by whether one counts whole cities, metropolitan areas or specific boroughs, and by which census year is used. The 2021 Census data lists Birmingham as having the single largest Muslim population by local authority, and 2016 and other summaries place high Muslim populations in several London boroughs and northern cities; recent summaries from 2025 reiterate these regional patterns while highlighting methodological differences that produce varying rankings [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Why Birmingham Tops Many Lists — Numbers and Context
Census and demographic summaries identify Birmingham as the single largest local-authority Muslim population in England and Wales, with figures from the 2021 Census cited at roughly 341,811 Muslims within the Birmingham local authority, and a Muslim share of the city’s population near 29.9% in later media summaries; these figures reflect counting at the local-authority level rather than the wider metropolitan area and are the basis for claiming Birmingham’s primacy [1] [4]. Analysts note that different datasets and years—such as earlier 2016 Statista figures—produce lower absolute numbers for Birmingham (around 280,000) because they predate the 2021 Census and used different geographic scopes; this demonstrates how updates and definitional choices (local authority vs metropolitan area vs borough) materially change rankings and why some London boroughs can outrank individual cities depending on the measure used [2] [1].
2. London’s Boroughs: Large Communities, Fragmented Geography
London does not appear as a single city figure in all sources because large Muslim populations are concentrated in specific boroughs—notably Newham, Tower Hamlets and several other east and north-east boroughs—so when sources list local authorities, those boroughs appear near the top. The 2021 Census and later analyses place Tower Hamlets and Newham among the top local authorities for Muslim population counts (with borough-level counts in the low hundreds of thousands when aggregated across Greater London), while earlier 2016 data also flagged Newham and Tower Hamlets with substantial Muslim populations [1] [2]. This fragmentation means that London’s combined Muslim population is by far the largest of any UK metropolitan area, but single-local-authority rankings can place a provincial city like Birmingham above any one London borough; readers should thus be clear whether they want borough-level, city-level, or metro-area comparisons [1] [2].
3. Bradford, Manchester and Northern Pockets: Historic Concentrations
Northern cities such as Bradford and Manchester consistently appear among places with sizeable Muslim communities; Bradford has long been notable for both the size of its Muslim population and infrastructure such as the Grand Mosque, often cited as one of the UK’s largest by capacity. Data summaries and historical analyses show Bradford and Manchester among the top locations outside London and the West Midlands, with Bradford frequently listed alongside Birmingham, Manchester and certain London boroughs depending on the dataset and year used [5] [6]. These Northern concentrations reflect migration and settlement patterns from South Asia across the twentieth century, and while exact rankings shift with updated censuses, the pattern of prominent northern Muslim communities remains stable across sources [5] [7].
4. Why Different Sources Give Different Top-Five Lists
Discrepancies in lists arise from three main methodological differences: the census year used (2016 vs 2021), whether the unit of analysis is a local authority/borough versus a broader city or metropolitan area, and the inclusion or exclusion of Scotland and Northern Ireland datasets on different timelines. For example, a 2016 Statista summary lists Birmingham followed by Newham and Tower Hamlets, while the 2021 Census-derived reporting shows larger absolute counts for Birmingham and shifts in rankings for some boroughs; 2025 summaries repackage those census figures and add interpretive context, which can further shift perceived rankings depending on emphasis [2] [1] [3]. The upshot is that apparent contradictions often reflect definitional choices rather than factual errors, so any claim about “largest Muslim communities” must state the underlying geography and year.
5. Bottom Line and How to Read These Figures
If the question is which single local authority has the largest Muslim population, Birmingham (local authority) is the leading answer according to 2021 census-based reporting, with London’s boroughs such as Tower Hamlets and Newham following closely depending on the dataset; if the question treats Greater London as a whole, London has the largest aggregate Muslim population in the UK. Recent 2025 reports reiterate these points while noting socioeconomic and geographic nuances and the limitations of cross-year comparisons [1] [3] [4]. For precision, always cite the census year and geographic unit being used: 2016 summaries, 2021 census local-authority counts, and 2025 interpretive reports each support similar regional conclusions but will yield different top-five lists depending on those choices [2] [1] [3].