Muslim Population Statistics: England, Wales and USA

This reference keeps the geography, population base, collection method and observation period visible beside every number. It does not turn Pew's adult percentage into an all-age US Muslim count, does not describe the England and Wales result as a UK figure, and does not calculate a transatlantic ranking. Those boundaries are necessary because a precise-looking comparison can still be misleading when its inputs describe different populations.

Download the source table as CSV

Retrieval date for the linked ONS and Pew pages: 15 July 2026. Check the source pages for revisions before reusing the dataset.

What the England and Wales census number says

The ONS religion bulletin for Census 2021 reports 3.9 million people identifying as Muslim, equal to 6.5% of the population of England and Wales. Both parts matter. The count is the published number for the category, while the percentage places that category within the census population. Neither part should be silently expanded beyond the geography named by the source.

Calling this a “UK Muslim population” figure would erase an important boundary. England and Wales are two constituent countries of the United Kingdom, but Scotland and Northern Ireland use separate censuses. A UK total would therefore require appropriately aligned results from all relevant census authorities, with careful attention to their questions, reference dates and publication methods. This page does not perform that construction. Wherever the 3.9 million or 6.5% values appear, the label should remain “England and Wales.”

The religion question was voluntary, and 94.0% of the population answered it. That response fact is part of the evidence, not a footnote to omit. A voluntary question allows a person not to state a religion, so the published category results sit alongside non-response. The 3.9 million and 6.5% are the ONS-published results; this page does not redistribute non-respondents among religious groups or create an adjusted Muslim share. Such an adjustment would require assumptions that are not supplied by the cited facts.

Safe wording for the census result

• Say “3.9 million people identified as Muslim in England and Wales in Census 2021.”
• Say “Muslims represented 6.5% of the England and Wales population in the ONS release.”
• State that the religion question was voluntary and that 94.0% answered it.
• Do not relabel the result as covering the United Kingdom.
• Note that Scotland and Northern Ireland use separate censuses when UK scope is relevant.

What the US adult survey number says

Pew Research Center's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study surveyed 36,908 US adults. In that study, 1.2% identified as Muslim. The denominator is adults represented by the study, and the evidence comes from a survey rather than a population census. A concise, accurate description is therefore: “Pew's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study found that 1.2% of US adults identified as Muslim.”

The sample size describes the number of adults surveyed; it is not the number of Muslims and it is not the total US adult population. The 1.2% is a study estimate about adult religious identity. This page deliberately does not multiply that percentage by a population total. Doing so would introduce another source, another reference period and decisions about the correct adult population base. More importantly, it could encourage readers to treat a survey estimate as a complete all-age administrative count.

No all-age US Muslim count is estimated here. Children are outside the stated adult survey population, and the supplied Pew fact does not provide an all-age percentage. Even if a reader can locate a total population number elsewhere, applying the adult estimate to every age would not be supported by this study description. When an all-age US count is needed, cite a source designed to produce that measure rather than deriving one from this page.

Safe wording for the US survey result

• Identify Pew Research Center and the 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study.
• Report the sample size as 36,908 US adults.
• Describe 1.2% as the share of US adults identifying as Muslim in the study.
• Do not call the sample size a population count.
• Do not convert 1.2% into an all-age US Muslim population estimate.

Why the two headline values are not equivalent

The numbers answer related but different questions. ONS reports a census result for people in England and Wales. Pew reports a survey estimate for adults in the United States. Geography differs, age scope differs, data-collection design differs and the observation periods differ. Placing the values in the same resource is useful for source discovery, but proximity does not make them directly comparable.

For these reasons, subtracting 1.2 from 6.5, presenting a ratio, or saying one country has a specified multiple of the other would compare unlike measures. It would also wrongly imply that England and Wales stand for the entire UK. This resource supports parallel description, not a league table. A responsible chart should use separate panels or prominent method labels rather than bars that imply a common denominator.

A publication checklist for editors and researchers

Before publishing either statistic, check the sentence for five elements: publisher, geography, population base, period and method. For ONS, that means naming England and Wales, Census 2021 and the voluntary religion question. For Pew, that means naming the United States, adults, the 2023–24 study and its survey of 36,908 adults. Keeping those elements beside the value is more reliable than placing all qualifications in a remote note.

Next, inspect headings, chart titles, image captions and metadata. A carefully qualified paragraph can still be undermined by a headline that says “UK Muslim population” or “US Muslim population count.” Alt text and downloadable labels should also avoid those shortcuts. If space is limited, remove a comparison rather than remove the population scope. “England and Wales: 6.5% in Census 2021” and “US adults: 1.2% in Pew's 2023–24 study” remain brief while preserving the essential distinction.

Finally, test every derived claim against the original measure. If a statement requires adding Scotland and Northern Ireland, estimating US children, converting the US percentage to a count, or treating census and survey results as one series, it goes beyond this dataset. Locate evidence built for that question and document the additional method. The absence of a derived number is preferable to a number whose apparent precision hides unsupported assumptions.

Methodology used for this reference

1. Source selection: the ONS Census 2021 religion bulletin was used for England and Wales; Pew's Religious Landscape Study religious-identity page was used for the United States.
2. Field selection: the table records the published headline value, its unit, geography, population scope, study period and collection type.
3. Scope preservation: “England and Wales” was retained rather than shortened to “UK,” and “US adults” was retained rather than broadened to “US population.”
4. No synthesis estimate: no missing UK jurisdictions were added and no US count was calculated from the adult percentage.
5. Quality note: the ONS voluntary-question response rate was retained because it affects interpretation of the census result.
6. Reproducibility: the downloadable CSV provides the compact source table so users can inspect labels before quoting or charting it.

This is a documentary compilation, not a new demographic study. The page does not reweight Pew microdata, reproduce census tables beyond the supplied figures, model non-response or reconcile census and survey concepts. Its purpose is to make correct citation easier and to prevent common scope errors.

Limitations

• No full UK total: the ONS figures here cover England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland use separate censuses, and their results are not combined on this page.
• No US all-age count: Pew's cited result concerns adults. This reference neither estimates children nor creates a total number of Muslims in the United States.
• Different methods: a census question and a large adult survey are not interchangeable simply because both concern religious identity.
• Different periods: Census 2021 and a 2023–24 study do not describe exactly the same point in time.
• Voluntary response: the census religion question was voluntary, with 94.0% answering. This page does not infer the religion of non-respondents.
• Headline extraction: this resource is limited to the supplied facts. Readers conducting detailed demographic analysis should review each publisher's complete methodology and tables.
• Future revisions: publisher pages and datasets may be corrected or updated after the retrieval date. Recheck them for time-sensitive publication.

Citation guidance

For inline prose, attach the ONS citation directly to the England and Wales sentence and the Pew citation directly to the US-adult sentence. Do not use one combined footnote in a way that obscures which publisher supports which value. In charts, include “England and Wales, people, census” and “United States, adults, survey” in labels or notes. Preserve the years and avoid a chart title such as “UK vs USA Muslim population” because that title overstates both comparability and UK coverage.

Sources

1. Office for National Statistics — Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
2. Pew Research Center — Religious Landscape Study: Religious identity. Retrieved 15 July 2026.

Related resources and services

Continue with the related data reference on internet access statistics across nine markets, or browse NoorPath's Islamic resources. Families comparing availability by region can visit online Quran class locations. For live teaching options, see online Quran classes and online Quran classes for kids. Commercial service pages describe NoorPath's programmes; they are not evidence for the demographic statistics above.

See the NoorPath editorial policy for how sources, corrections and commercial relationships are handled.