Demographics of Islam

The following table analyzes the demographics of Islam as of mid-year 2005.

The exact percentage of the world's Muslim population that adheres to the various Shi'a sects, as opposed to the majority Sunni group, is indeterminate. No Sunni-Shi'a breakdown is available for many countries. The CIA World Factbook gives a Sunni-Shi'a breakdown only for countries where Shi'a are a significant minority. When no breakdown is given, all the country's Muslims have been enrolled, provisionally, in the Sunni column. This is certain to have exaggerated the proportion of Sunni Muslims. Much further work will be required before the Sunni-Shi'a statistics given here can be considered reliable. At present, the figures indicate 88.7% Sunni and 11.13% Shi'a.

No columns have been provided for the Ibadi branch of Islam. Ibadis are found primarily in Oman, where they constitute some 80% of the Muslim population. (Total population is approximately 3,001,583, Muslim population is 2,851,504, Sunni population is 556,676, Shi'a population is 43,741, and the Ibadi population is 2,251,187 -- all figures being approximate.)

There is a considerable discrepancy between the Muslim total derived from adding up the figures for the various countries (1,363,000,000) and the Muslim total given by the CIA World Factbook (1,283,000,000). The CIA estimates that Muslims constitute some 19.9% of the world population. If the larger figure is used, the percentage would be 21.1%. The discrepancy may be due to rounding errors, since in many cases the Muslim population was calculated from the general population multiplied by the Muslim percentage. Replacing the CIA figures with figures from national censuses, if available, could reduce this discrepancy.

Note on percentages

The percentage following the number of Muslims in the general population is the percentage of Muslims in the general population. However, the percentages following the Sunni and Shi'a numbers are percentages of the MUSLIM population, not the general population. This was done so as to better see the Sunni-Shi'a balance (if it can be said to be seen when the figures are both controversial and sketchy).

The percentage is applied to mid-year 2005 population estimate for the country as per CIA website. Although CIA site appears to update mid-year population estimates on the basis of estimated annual growth rate for the country, it does not seem to update percentage figures and uses last available estimate or census for such percentage.

For example, percent of total population that is Muslim in India has grown by 0.84 percent points during 1991-2001 from 12.60% (12.20% per 1991 Census figure adujsted for areas missed in 1991 Census) to 13.43% in 2001 census. Such trend projects a 13.80% Muslim percentage for India in mid-year 2005. Because of such reasonable estimate for mid-2005 is reasonable to make in case of India, it has been used.

Sources used

The majority of the figures have been taken from, or calculated from, the CIA World Factbook [1] and the website Adherents.com [2]. When these sources fail to provide any numerical information, other sources have been used as specified below:

• [1]: Imam Reza Network estimates link
• [2]: Imam Reza Network estimates link
• [3]: Encyclopedia Britannica 1997 edition
• [4]: Registered religious communities in Finland (2003)

The reliabilty of the following data is not confirmed and may be disputed and/or incorrect

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Country	Population	Muslim	% Muslim	Sunni	% Sunni	Shi'a	% Shi'a
Afghanistan	29,928,987	29,629,697	99.0	23,703,000	80.0	5,926,697	20 .0
Albania	3,563,112	2,494,178	70.0	2,494,178	?	?	?
Algeria	32,531,853	32,206,534	99.0	32,206,534	?	?	?
Austria	8,184,691	339557	04.2	339557	?	?	?
Australia	20,090,437	301,357	01.5	301,357	?	?	?
Azerbaijan	7,911,974	7,389,784	93.4	7,389,784	?	?	?
Bahrain	688,345	688,345	100.0	206,504	30.0	481,842	70.0
Bangladesh	144,319,628	119,785,291	83.0	119,785,291	?	?	?
Benin	7,460,025	1,492,005	20.0	1,492,005	?	?	?
Bosnia	4,025,476	1,610,190	40.0	1,610,190	?	?	?
Brazil	186,112,794	29,778 [3]	0.016	17,866	60.0	11,912	40.0 [1]
Brunei	372,361	249,482	67.0	249,482	?	?	?
Bulgaria	7,450,349	908,943	12.2	908,943	?	?	?
Burkina Faso	13,925,313	6,962,657	50.0	6,962,657	?	?	?
Burma	42,909,464	1,716,379	04.0	1,716,379	?	?	?
Burundi	6,370,609	637,061	10.0	637,061	?	?	?
Cameroon	16,380,005	3,276,001	20.0	3,276,001	?	?	?
Canada	32,805,041	623,296	01.9	623,296	?	?	?
Central African Republic	3,799,897	569,985	15.00	569,985	?	?	?
Chad	9,826,419	5,011,474	51.0	5,011,474	?	?	?
China	1,306,313,812	19,594,707	01.5	19,594,707	?	?	?
Cocos Islands	628	546	87.0	546	?	?	?
Comoros	671,247	657,822	98.0	657,822	?	?	?
Congo	60,2875,804	6,028,580	10.0	6,028,580	?	?	?
Côte d'Ivoire	17,298,040	6,486,765	37.5	6,486,765	?	?	?
Croatia	4,495,904	58,447	1.3	58,447	?	?	?
Cyprus	780,133	140,424	18.0	140,424	?	?	?
Denmark	5,432,335	108,647	02.0	108,647	?	?	?
Djibouti	476,703	448,101	94.0	448,101	?	?	?
East Timor	1,040,880	41,635	04.0	41,635	?	?	?
Egypt	77,505,756	72,855,411	94.0	72,855,411	?	?	?
Eritrea	4,561,599	2,280,800	50.0	2,280,800	?	?	?
Ethiopia	73,053,286	34,700,311	47.5	34,700,311	?	?	?
Fiji	893,354	71,468	08.0	71,468	?	?	?
Finland	5,223,442	~20,000[4]	00.38	~20,000	?	?	?
France	60,656,178	4,549,213	07.5	4,549,213	?	?	?
Gabon	1,389,201	6,946	00.5	6,946	?	?	?
The Gambia	1,593,256	1,433,930	90.0	1,433,930	?	?	?
Gaza Strip	1,376,289	1,358,397	98.7	1,358,397	?	?	?
Georgia	4,677,401	514,514	11.0	514,514	?	?	?
Germany	82,431,390	3,049,961	03.7	3,049,961	?	?	?
Ghana	21,029,853	3,364,776	16.0	2,364,776	70.29	1,000,000	29.71[1]
Gibraltar	27,884	1,924	06.9	1,924	?	?	?
Greece	10,668,354	138,689	01.3	138,689	?	?	?
Guinea	9,467,866	8,047,686	85.0	8,047,686	?	?	?
Guinea-Bissau	1,416,027	637,212	45.0	637,212	?	?	?
Guyana	765,283	76,528	10.0	76,528	?	?	?
Hong Kong	6,898,686	70,000	1.014	69,500	99.28	500	0.72[2]
India	1,080,264,388	149,632,000	13.8	126,715,000	85	22,316,000	15
Indonesia	241,973,879	212,937,014	88.0	211,937,014	99.53	1,000,000	0.47 [1]
Iran	68,017,860	66,657,000	98.0	6,121,410	09.0	60,535,590	91.0
Iraq	26,074,906	25,292,659	97.0	8,995,843	35.6	16,296,816	64.4
Israel	6,276,883	916,425	14.6	916,425	?	?	?
Italy	58,103,033	700,000	01.2	700,000	?	?	?
Jordan	5,759,732	5,414,148	94.0	5,298,953	98.0	115,195	02.0
Kazakhstan	15,185,844	7,137,347	47.0	7,137,347	?	?	?
Kenya	33,829,590	3,382,959	10.0	3,382,959	?	?	?
Kuwait	2,335,648	1,985,301	85.0	1,181,254	60.0	595,590	40.0
Kyrgyzstan	5,146,281	3,859,711	75.0	3,859,711	?	?	?
Lebanon	3,826,018	2,284,133	59.7	2,284,133	?	?	?
Liberia	3,482,211	1,392,884	40.0	1,392,884	?	?	?
Libya	5,765,563	5,592,596	97.0	5,592,596	?	?	?
Republic of Macedonia	2,045,262	593,126	29.0	593,126	?	?	?
Madagascar	18,040,341	1,262,824	07.0	1,262,824	?	?	?
Malawi	12,158,924	2,431,785	20.0	2,431,785	?	?	?
Malaysia	23,953,136	12,695,162	53.0	12,695,162	?	?	?
Maldives	349,106	349,106	100.0	349,106	?	?	?
Mali	12,291,529	11,062,376	90.0	11,062,376	?	?	?
Martinique	432,900	216,450	50.0	216,450	?	?	?
Mauritania	3,086,859	3,086,859	100.0	3,086,059	?	?	?
Mauritius	1,230,602	204,280	16.6	204,280	?	?	?
Mayotte	193,633	187,824	97.0	187,824	?	?	?
Mongolia	2,791,272	111,651	04.0	111,651	?	?	?
Morocco	32,725,847	32,300,411	98.7	32,300,411	?	?	?
Mozambique	19,406,703	3,881,341	20.0	3,881,341	?	?	?
Nepal	27,676,547	1,051,709	03.8	1,051,709	?	?	?
Netherlands	16,407,491	721,930	04.4	721,930	?	?	?
Niger	11,665,937	9,332,750	80.0	9,332,750	?	?	?
Nigeria	128,771,988	64,385,994	50.0	64,385,994	?	?	?
Norway	4,593,041	82,765	01.8	82,675	?	?	?
Oman*	3,001,583	2,851,504	95.0	556,676	19.5	43,741[3]	01.5
Pakistan	162,419,946	157,547,348	97.0	125,063,000	79.4	32,484,348	20.6
The Philippines	87,857,473	4,392,874	05.0	4,392,874	?	?	?
Qatar	863,051	819,898	95.0	819,898	?	?	?
Romania	22,239,977	89,320	00.4	89,320	?	?	?
Russia	143,420,309	12,190,726	08.5	12,190,726	?	?	?
Rwanda	8,440,820	844,082	10.0	844,082	?	?	?
Saudi Arabia	26,417,599	26,417,599	100.0	26,417,599	?	?	?
Senegal	11,126,832	9,346,539	84.0	9,346,539	?	?	?
Serbia and Montenegro	10,829,175	2,057,543	19.0	2,057,543	?	?	?
Sierra Leone	6,017,643	3,610,586	60.0	3,610,586	?	?	?
Singapore	4,425,720	716,967	16.2	716,967	?	?	?
Somalia	8,591,629	8,591,629	100.0	8,591,629	?	?	?
South Africa	44,344,136	886,883	02.0	886,883	?	?	?
Sri Lanka	20,064,776	1,404,534	07.0	1,404,534	?	?	?
Sudan	40,187,486	28,131,240	70.0	28,131,240	?	?	?
Suriname	438,144	85,876	19.6	85,876	?	?	?
Swaziland	1,173,900	117,390	10.0	117,390	?	?	?
Sweden	9,001,774	?	?	?	?	?	?
Syria	18,448,752	16,603,877	90.0	13,652,076	82.2	2,951,801	17.8
Tajikstan	7,163,506	6,805,331	95.00	6,088,980	89.5	716,351	10.5
Tanzania	36,766,356	12,868,225	35.0	12,868,225	?	?	?
Thailand	65,444,371	2,486,886	03.8	2,486,886	?	?	?
Togo	5,681,519	1,136,304	20.0	1,136,304	?	?	?
Trinidad and Tobago	1,088,644	63,141	05.8	63,141	?	?	?
Tunisia	10,074,951	9,873,452	98.0	9,873,452	?	?	?
Turkey	69,660,559	69,521,238	99.8	69,521,238	?	?	?
Turkmenistan	4,952,081	4,407,352	89.0	4,407,352	?	?	?
Uganda	27,2694,82	4,363,117	16.0	4,363,117	?	?	?
UAE	2,563,212	2,460,684	96.0	2,050,570	83.3	410,114	16.7
UK	60,441,457	1,511,036	02.5	1,511,036	?	?	?
US	295,734,134	2,957,341	01.0	2,957,341	?	?	?
Uzbekistan	26,851,195	23,629,052	88.0	23,629,052	?	?	?
Vietnam	83,535,576	50.000	0.06	50,000	?	?	?
West Bank	2,385,615	1,789,211	75.0	1,789,211	?	?	?
Western Sahara	273,008	273,008	100.0	273,008	?	?	?
Yemen	20,727,063	20,623,428	99.5	13,735,200	66.50	6,888,228	33.50
Zambia	44,261,795	442,618	01.0	442,618	?	?	?
Zimbabwe	12,746,990	127,470	01.0	127,470	?	?	?
SUM TOTALS	not applicable	1,362,630,000	21.1	1,209,600,000	88.7%	151,000,000	11.3%
CIA TOTALS	6,466,131,400	1,282,780,149	19.90	?	?	?	?

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See also

Islam by country