Muslim Population in Paris 2026 | Estimated Numbers, Percentage & Demographic Facts

The Muslim Population in Paris has no official count, because French law bars religious questions from the census, but 2026 estimates built from INSEE, Ifop and Pew data put it at about 143,000 to 307,000 residents, or 7% to 15% of the city’s 2,047,602 people. The wider Paris region, Île-de-France, likely holds 1.6 million to 2.2 million Muslims, or 12% to 18% of its 12,594,502 residents.

Muslim Population in Paris 2026 – Introduction

The Muslim Population in Paris is one of the most searched and least measured figures in European demography. France has barred public bodies from asking about religion in the census since 1872, so no agency publishes a head count for the capital. Researchers fill the gap with national surveys, immigration data and the size of local institutions. This report combines those sources into one clear 2026 picture of Paris, its suburbs and the country around it.

Three numbers anchor the analysis. Paris has 2,047,602 residents on the latest INSEE-based estimate, and 20.1% of them are immigrants. National surveys put Muslims at 7% to 10% of France. Together, those figures give a defensible range for the city. Every estimate carries limits, and each section below names them.

Interesting Facts About the Muslim Population in Paris 2026

HEADLINE SHARES 2026 (percent, 1 block = 1.5 points)
France Muslims, Ifop 2025      |█████            7%
France Muslims, INSEE 2019-20  |███████         10%
Paris immigrants, INSEE        |█████████████  20.1%
Seine-Saint-Denis immigrants   |█████████████████████  31.6%

Source: Insee population estimates (1 January 2026); Insee-Ined Trajectoires et Origines 2 survey (2019-2020); Ifop testimony to the French National Assembly (18 November 2025).

The table separates measured facts from modeled ones. INSEE supplies the population counts: 2,047,602 people in Paris and 12,594,502 in Île-de-France. Both figures are preliminary estimates built from birth, death and migration records. The immigrant share of 20.1% comes from INSEE estimates for 2020 and 2021, and it describes birthplace, not faith.

The Muslim figures come from surveys, not a census. Ifop’s 2025 phone survey of nearly 15,000 people found 7%. INSEE and Ined found 10% among adults aged 18 to 59. The range of 143,000 to 307,000 Muslims in Paris is this report’s own calculation. The Grand Mosque of Paris opened in 1926, so 2026 marks its 100th year.

Muslim Population in Paris 2026: Estimated Numbers and Percentage

MUSLIMS IN PARIS, REPORT SCENARIOS 2026 (thousands, 1 block = 20)
Low (7%)       |███████          143
Central (10%)  |██████████       205
High (15%)     |███████████████  307

Source: Insee population estimate (1 January 2026); Ifop 2025 survey; Insee-Ined TeO2 survey. Scenario math by this report.

The low scenario applies Ifop’s 7% national share to Paris and returns 143,300 people. The central scenario applies INSEE’s 10% and returns 204,800. The high scenario uses 15%, which reflects a Paris immigrant share of 20.1%, about double the national 10%. Each count equals the share multiplied by the city population of 2,047,602.

Treat the central scenario as the planning figure and the range as the honest answer. Brookings analyses place roughly one-third of France’s Muslims in the Paris region. Applied to 4.7 million to 6.7 million Muslims nationally, that gives 1.6 million to 2.2 million in Île-de-France, or 12% to 18% of the region. The city itself holds far fewer people than its suburbs.

How Many Muslims in France 2026: National Survey Estimates by Source

MUSLIM SHARE OF FRANCE BY SURVEY (percent, 1 block = 1 point)
Ifop 1985        |▏               0.5%
Cevipof 2009     |████            ~4%
Montaigne 2016   |██████          5.6%
Ifop 2025        |███████         7%
Pew 2020         |████████        ~8%
Pew 2016         |█████████       8.8%
INSEE 2019-20    |██████████      10%

Source: Ifop testimony to the French National Assembly (November 2025); Insee-Ined Trajectoires et Origines 2; Institut Montaigne; Pew Research Center.

Five sources give a national range of 5.6% to 10%. Pew counts anyone who calls themselves Muslim, and it found 5.72 million people in 2016. Applied to France’s 2026 population of 66,792,845, Ifop’s 7% equals about 4.7 million people and INSEE’s 10% equals about 6.7 million. Institut Montaigne and Ifop found 5.6% of people aged 15 and over in 2016.

Method explains the gap. The INSEE survey stops at age 59, so it leaves out about 20 million older adults, according to Ifop. It also asks first whether a person has a religion. Ifop’s phone survey covers all adults, which pulls the share down. Ifop traces the climb from 0.5% in 1985 to 7% in 2025, while Cevipof measured about 4% in 2009.

Paris Population and Immigrant Numbers 2026: INSEE Figures Behind the Estimates

IMMIGRANTS BY DEPARTMENT, 2022 CENSUS (thousands, 1 block = 20)
Paris              |██████████████████████      441
Hauts-de-Seine     |████████████████            328
Seine-Saint-Denis  |██████████████████████████  528

Source: Insee, recensement de la population 2022; Insee estimations de population 2020-2021; Insee Flash Île-de-France (December 2024).

INSEE counted 440,676 immigrants in Paris in 2022, 528,429 in Seine-Saint-Denis and 327,634 in Hauts-de-Seine. Île-de-France holds 2,594,900 immigrants, or about 21% of residents by this report’s math. Paris fell to 2,103,778 people in 2023, losing about 14,000 residents a year from 2017 to 2023, according to Apur. Grand Paris Metropolis counted 7,142,540 people.

Immigrants from Algeria, Morocco and Portugal lead in Île-de-France, while Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia lead in Seine-Saint-Denis. 37% of France’s immigrants live in the region, which holds 18% of the national population. Birthplace is not religion. Nationally, 44% of immigrants report Islam, so immigrant counts only hint at Muslim numbers. Paris also draws many immigrants from Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Religion in France 2026: Muslim Share Compared With Catholic and No-Religion Groups

RELIGION OF ADULTS AGED 18-59, 2019-2020 (percent, 1 block = 2 points)
No religion     |██████████████████████████  51%
Catholic        |███████████████             29%
Muslim          |█████                       10%
Other religion  |█████                       10%

Source: Insee Références, Immigrés et descendants d’immigrés en France (2023 edition), Ined-Insee TeO2 survey.

INSEE and Ined surveyed adults aged 18 to 59 in 2019 and 2020. 29% called themselves Catholic, 10% Muslim, 10% members of other religions and 51% without religion. Islam is France’s second religion. Among immigrants, 44% are Muslim, and among descendants of two immigrant parents, 48% are. The share is far lower in the rest of the population.

Paris has a mixed religious makeup. Paris is Europe’s largest Jewish city, with about 277,000 Jewish residents on the 2026 count in that report. Catholics, Jews, Muslims and a large non-religious group share a city of 2,047,602 people. No survey gives an exact religious breakdown for Paris alone, so these national shares guide the estimate without fixing it.

Muslim Demographics in France 2026: Age, Fasting and Mosque Attendance

MUSLIM PRACTICE AND AGE INDICATORS (percent, 1 block = 5 points)
Raised Muslim, still Muslim  |██████████████████  91%
Fast strictly at Ramadan     |███████████████     75%
Sample under age 35 (Ifop)   |███████████         56%
Religion central to identity |██████              30%
Regular mosque attendance    |████                20%

Source: Insee-Ined Trajectoires et Origines 2 (2019-2020); Ifop testimony to the French National Assembly (18 November 2025).

TeO2 shows a devout but changing group. 75% of Muslims fast strictly during Ramadan, and another 15% fast more or less. Only about 20% attend mosque regularly. 30% say religion plays a major role in their identity, a figure that fell since 2008. 91% of people raised in Muslim families still claim the religion.

Age shapes the numbers. In Ifop’s 2025 work, 56% of Muslim respondents were under 35. Institut Montaigne found 10% of people under 25 were Muslim in 2016, against 5.6% of everyone aged 15 and over. England and Wales asks a religion question and recorded 6.5% Muslims in 2021, as covered in cultural diversity statistics in the UK. France has no such series.

Muslim Neighborhoods in Paris 2026: Arrondissements, Banlieues and Mosques

MUSLIM PLACES OF WORSHIP IN FRANCE (1 block = 50)
2010 CFCM census |███████████████████████████████████████████████  2,368
2012 census      |█████████████████████████████████████████████████  2,449
Recent estimate  |██████████████████████████████████████████████████  ~2,500

Source: Ministère de l’Intérieur written answers to the French National Assembly (CFCM census figures include overseas territories); Grande Mosquée de Paris estimates; Insee 2020-2021.

Researchers place the densest Muslim residence in the 18th, 19th and 20th arrondissements, with the 13th also cited, and in suburbs such as Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne. No official map exists, because religion is not recorded. Analysts use mosques, halal businesses and immigrant origin as proxies. Seine-Saint-Denis shows 31.6% immigrants, the highest share in mainland France.

The Grand Mosque of Paris, inaugurated in 1926 with President Gaston Doumergue present, is the best-known site. France has about 2,500 Muslim places of worship, up from 2,368 in 2010 and 2,449 in 2012. Only about 30 have a minaret. France has about 1,800 imams, and fewer than 20% are French.

Muslim Population in France 2050 Projection: What 2026 Data Shows

PEW PROJECTED MUSLIM SHARE OF FRANCE (percent, 1 block = 1 point)
2016 base          |█████████         8.8%
2050 zero migrants |█████████████     12.7%
2050 medium        |█████████████████ 17.4%
2050 high          |██████████████████ 18%

Source: Pew Research Center, Europe’s Growing Muslim Population (2017).

Pew modeled three paths for France to 2050 from its 2016 base of 5.7 million Muslims, or 8.8%. With zero migration, the share reaches 12.7%. Under medium migration it reaches 17.4%, and under high refugee flows it reaches 18%. Pew also projects France’s non-religious group at 44% and Christians at 43% by 2050.

No scenario makes France majority Muslim, and the highest share is 18%. Fact-checkers rejected a claim of 50% by 2050. Ifop’s rise from 5.5% in 2016 to 7% in 2025 adds about 0.17 points a year, which gives roughly 11% by 2050 on a straight line. For a wider frame, compare France with its neighbors in European countries by population.

Muslim Population in Paris FAQ 2026

How many Muslims live in Paris in 2026?

No official count exists. This report’s 2026 estimate is 143,000 to 307,000 Muslims within the city limits, with 204,800 as the central figure. The wider Île-de-France region likely holds 1.6 million to 2.2 million.

What percentage of Paris is Muslim in 2026?

A defensible range is 7% to 15% of the 2,047,602 residents, with 10% as the central estimate. The range starts from Ifop’s national 7% and rises because Paris has double the national immigrant share.

Does France count Muslims in the census in 2026?

No. French law has barred public bodies from asking about religion in censuses since 1872. A 1978 data protection law restricts religious data further, with exceptions for bodies such as INSEE and Ined after approval from the privacy regulator CNIL.

How many Muslims live in France in 2026?

Estimates run from 4.7 million (Ifop’s 7%) to 6.7 million (INSEE’s 10%) across 66,792,845 residents. Pew counted 5.72 million in 2016.

Which Paris arrondissements have the most Muslim residents in 2026?

Researchers point to the 18th, 19th, 20th and 13th arrondissements. Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, just outside the city, also show high concentrations. No official figures exist by arrondissement.

How many mosques are in Paris in 2026?

No public list covers Paris alone. France has about 2,500 Muslim places of worship, and the Grand Mosque of Paris, opened in 1926, is the best known.

Will Paris be majority Muslim by 2050?

No source supports that. Pew’s highest scenario puts France at 18% Muslim in 2050, and Paris would need far higher shares than any projection shows.

Why do Muslim population estimates for Paris differ in 2026?

Methods differ. INSEE covers ages 18 to 59, Ifop covers all adults by phone, Institut Montaigne covers ages 15 and over, and Pew counts anyone who identifies as Muslim. Paris-level numbers also need extra assumptions.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.

Email ID:

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email

Email *

SUBSCRIBE