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Based on this research, the projected number of Muslims in the whole of Europe, EU-15, and several major European countries is as shown in Table 1:
Table 1: Projection of Muslims in Europe & Selected Countries, 2005-2010 No. Country 1 2 3 4 5 6
Europe EU-15 (western/ northern) - France - Germany - United Kingdom - The Netherlands
Muslim Population (‘000) 2005 2010 51,200 19,750 5,866 3,450 1,720 940
54,700 25,230 6,780 4,160 2,180 1,050
Source: The Halal Journal and World Halal Forum (WHF) Secretariat
In Europe, Muslim population is expected to reach 54.7 million in 2010, an increase from 51.2 million in 2005. In most cases, these are migrants from Muslim-majority countries such as Turkey, parts of Asia, North Africa, as well as the other African states. The Russian Federation has the largest Muslim population, followed by France, Germany, United Kingdom and The Netherlands in that order. In EU-15 (Western/ Northern Europe) countries, the number of Muslims was close to 20 million in 2005, projected to continue increasing to 25.23 million by 2010. Although Muslims in Europe are often criticised for seeing themselves as a distinct group, in reality they are far from this homogenous characteristic, especially after taking into account dietary, lifestyle and other socio-economic backgrounds. The Turkish Muslims, representing almost 70 per cent of Muslims in Europe, have little in common with the predominantly Algerian and Moroccan Muslims in France who are in turn very different with Asian and Suriname-origin Muslims in The Netherlands. Despite these distinctions, some striking phenomena are observed: Muslims require halal food and will put in great effort to obtain it. Secondly, Muslims are fast being integrated with the global economy.
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