Muslims in UK top 3 million for first time; 50% are foreign-born

BRITAIN is home to more than 3 million Muslims for the first time ever with more than half born outside the UK, according to new figures.

Soaring immigration and sky high birth rates have seen the number in the country double in a little over a decade.

Some parts of London are now almost 50 per cent Islamic, according to analysis from the Office for National Statistics.

If current trends continue the areas could become majority Muslim within ten years.

One in four Muslims in England and Wales are under ten years old than in any other age group indicating a very high birth rate within the community.

Followers of Islam now make up one in every 20 people within the country.

Tower Hamlets in East London had the highest percentage of Muslims with 45.6 per cent and neighbouring Newham wasn’t far behind on 40.8 per cent.

Outside the capital Blackburn in Lancashire was highest with 29.1 per cent of the city made up of followers of Islam.

In both Slough and Luton over a quarter of the population is now Muslim with Birmingham and Leicester coming in at over a fifth.

A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said: “This statistic highlights the diversity in modern Britain, and the need that this is reflected in all spheres of life, from top management opportunities to political representation.”

But Lord Green of Deddington, who chairs Migration Watch Uk said: “This is clear evidence of the way in which mass immigration is rapidly changing the nature of our society. The Home Secretary was right in her conference speech to point to the potential pressures on social cohesion.”

Across the country there are now 3,114,992 Muslims with 1,554022 born overseas and they now make up 5.4% of the population of England and Wales.

The number has more than trebled in the last quarter of a century when less than a million were in the country in 1991.