France is home to the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, and Islam is firmly established as the country's second religion. Yet putting a precise figure on it is surprisingly hard, because France, in keeping with its tradition of secularism (laïcité), does not record religion in its census. This article, part of our Muslim population data hub, gathers what the most reliable sources suggest about the size, history and geography of Muslim life in France.
A community that is hard to count
Because the census has not asked about religion since the nineteenth century, estimates rely on large surveys. The most authoritative is the Trajectoires et Origines survey, carried out by the national statistics institute Insee together with Ined. In its 2019-2020 edition, it found that Islam had become the second religion in France, declared by around 10% of adults aged 18 to 59, behind Catholicism (about 29%). Because that figure covers only adults of working age rather than the whole population, translating it into a national total is not straightforward. For comparison, the Pew Research Center estimated the Muslim share of France's total population at roughly 7.5% around 2010, with projections rising toward 10% in the following decades. The honest summary is a range: something on the order of 8 to 10% of people in France.
A history shaped by migration
Muslim presence in France is closely tied to the country's colonial history and its post-war need for labour. Migration from the Maghreb, above all Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, grew through the twentieth century, joined later by communities from Turkey and the Sahel region of West Africa. The Grande Mosquée de Paris, inaugurated in 1926 in honour of colonial soldiers who died in the First World War, remains one of the most visible symbols of that long presence. According to Insee, Muslim affiliation is far more common among immigrants (around 44%) and the children of two immigrant parents (around 48%) than among people with no migration background (about 1%).
Where France's Muslims live and how they practise
Muslim communities are concentrated in and around the larger urban regions, particularly Paris and its suburbs, Lyon, Marseille and the industrial north and east, reflecting where earlier migrants found work. Insee's survey also underlines that religious practice looks different from Christianity: attending the mosque is not one of the pillars of Islam, and only about 20% of Muslims in France go regularly, with private prayer at home far more common. At the same time, transmission between generations is strong, with around 91% of people raised in a Muslim family keeping the religion. The wider continental picture is set out in our article on Muslims in Europe.
The mosque landscape
France's mosques range from a handful of grand, purpose-built landmarks to many hundreds of modest prayer rooms in converted shops, flats and community halls. Estimates commonly cited by the French authorities put the number of mosques and prayer spaces at roughly 2,500, most of them small. New construction has been steady but often slowed by funding and planning difficulties. To see them for yourself, you can France in the directory or open the the interactive map to explore city by city. For the global context behind these communities, see Muslim population worldwide.
Numbers can only sketch a community. Behind France's several million Muslims are neighbours, colleagues and friends at prayer in thousands of ordinary rooms. Use MosqueFinder to find them near you.