10 Facts: Where the World’s Muslims Live

1. In the Middle East and North Africa, the 317 million Muslims represent 93% of the region’s overall population.

2. Muslims in Middle East and North Africa make up only about 20% of the 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide.

3. The Asia-Pacific region is home to the world’s largest Muslim population.

4. At 986 million, the Asia-Pacific region’s Muslim population is over three times the number who live in the Middle East and North Africa.

5. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the world’s third-largest Muslim population – at 248 million.

6. Muslims make up a minority of the overall populations of the Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa regions – 24% and 30%, respectively.

7. These three regions are home to nearly 97% of all Muslims worldwide.

8. Elsewhere, Muslims are a small minority of the population.

9. In Europe, the 43 million Muslims represent just 6% of the population.

10. The 3.5 million Muslims in North America make up just 1% of the total population, while just 0.1% of Latin Americans are Muslim.

The Upshot

Muslims represent no more than 30% of the population in any region of the world – except one. The one region where they are in the majority, the Middle East and North Africa, is also the world’s most homogeneous population in terms of religious diversity.

Source: The Global Religious Landscape, Pew Research Center, with additional analysis by The Globalist Research Center