The Pew Research Center reports that the recent violence in France and protest marches in Germany have drawn attention to Europe’s Muslim population. Pew recently released five facts about Muslims in Europe based on its research.
Pew says that in many European countries, including Germany, the U.K. and the Netherlands, concerns about growing Muslim communities have led to calls for restrictions on immigration.
At MYIA, we’ve seen a strong anti-immigrant movement develop in many European countries, primarily orchestrated by right-wing political parties, like The National Front in France. Much of their rhetoric has been directed at Muslims in Europe and often based on misinformation.
To better understand the Muslim population in Europe, Pew recently released these five facts:
1. Germany and France have the largest Muslim populations among European Union member countries. Most recent figures show Muslims make up about 5.8 percent of Germany’s population and 7.5 percent of France. Russia has the largest percentage of Muslims, 10 percent.
2. The Muslim share of Europe’s total population has been increasing steadily. In recent decades, the Muslim share of Europe’s population grew about 1 percentage point a decade. This pattern is expected to continue through 2030, when Muslims are projected to make up 8 percent of Europe’s people.
3. Muslims are younger than other Europeans. In 2010, the median age of Muslims throughout Europe was 32, eight years younger than the median age for all Europeans, which is 40.
4. Views of Muslims vary widely among European countries. In a recent Pew study, majorities in France, Britain and Germany had favorable views of Muslims. Opinions were divided in Spain, while negative views prevailed in Italy, Greece and Poland.
5. As of 2010, the European Union was home to about 13 million Muslim immigrants. The foreign-born Muslim population in Germany is primarily made up of Turkish immigrants, but also includes many born in Kosovo, Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Morocco. The roughly 3 million foreign-born Muslims in France are largely from France’s former colonies of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
