World Muslim Population hits 1.57B ; 28 million Muslims in Ethiopia

The number of Muslims in the world hits 1.7 Billion according to a new study of more than 200 countries by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. This number represents about 23% of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion people. More than 300 million Muslims, or one-fifth of the world's Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. For instance in Ethiopia Muslims make up about 33.9% of the population at around 28 million Muslims according to Pew.

Ethiopia has the second largest number of Muslims living as Minorities in the world with 28 million Muslims living in a majority-Christian country. And Ethiopia has the second largest Muslim population in Sub-Sharan Africa.

While 80% of the world’s Muslims live in countries where Muslims are in the majority, significant numbers – about one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population – live as religious minorities in their home countries. Of the roughly 317 million Muslims living as minorities, about 240 million – about three-quarters – live in five countries: India (161 million), Ethiopia (28 million), China (22 million), Russia (16 million) and Tanzania (13 million). Two of the 10 countries with the largest number of Muslims living as minorities are in Europe: Russia (16 million) and Germany (4 million). These minority populations are often quite large. For example, India, a Hindu-majority country, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. The Muslim population of Ethiopia is about as large as that of Afghanistan. China has more Muslims than Syria; Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined; and Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon

Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes 50 countries and territories, has about 241 million Muslims, which is about 15% of the world Muslim population. Nigeria has the largest Muslim population in Sub-Saharan Africa, with about 78 million Muslims (about 50% of Nigeria's total population). Almost one-in-three Muslims (about 32%) in Sub-Saharan Africa live in Nigeria. Western Africa is the only area in Sub-Saharan Africa with a Muslim majority. In contrast, the southern part of Africa has the smallest Muslim population.

Sub-Saharan Africa is also home to a number of countries that have very large Muslim majorities. Countries with the highest percentages of Muslim populations are: Mauritania (99%), Niger (99%), Somalia (99%), Mayotte (98%), Comoros (98%), Djibouti (97%), Senegal (96%), Gambia (95%), Mali (93%), Guinea (84%) and Sierra Leone (71%). The combined Muslim population of all these countries is about 67 million, or about 4% of the global Muslim population.
Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with the Largest Number of Muslims
Estimated 2009

Muslim Population Percentage of
Population that

is Muslim Percentage of
World Muslim

Population
Nigeria 78,056,000 50.4% 5.0%
Ethiopia 28,063,000 33.9 1.8
Niger 15,075,000 98.6 1.0
Tanzania 13,218,000 30.2 0.8
Mali 12,040,000 92.5 0.8
Senegal 12,028,000 96.0 0.8
Burkina Faso 9,292,000 59.0 0.6
Somalia 8,995,000 98.5 0.6
Guinea 8,502,000 84.4 0.5
Ivory Coast 7,745,000 36.7 0.5
Rest of Region 47,618,000 11.3 3.0
Regional Total 240,632,000 30.1 15.3
World Total 1,571,198,000 22.9 100.0

Note: Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life • Mapping the Global Muslim Population, October 2009
Countries with the Largest Number of Muslims Living as Minorities
Estimated 2009

Muslim Population

Percentage of

Population that

is Muslim
Percentage of
World Muslim

Population
India 160,945,000 13.4% 10.3%
Ethiopia 28,063,000 33.9 1.8
China 21,667,000 1.6 1.4
Russia 16,482,000 11.7 1.0
Tanzania 13,218,000 30.2 0.8
Ivory Coast 7,745,000 36.7 0.5
Mozambique 5,224,000 22.8 0.3
Philippines 4,654,000 5.1 0.3
Germany* 4,026,000 ~5 <1
Uganda 3,958,000 12.1 0.3

* Data for Germany come in part from general population surveys, which are less reliable than censuses or large-scale demographic and health surveys for estimating minority-majority ratios (see Methodology). As a result, the percentage of the population that is Muslim in Germany is rounded to the nearest integer.