Some 317,952 children aged under five, or 9.1%, were registered as being Muslim in the 2011 census. PHOTO: FILE
Some 317,952 children aged under five, or 9.1%, were registered as being Muslim in the 2011 census, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show.
As a measure of how the religious demographics of England and Wales are changing, the figure is nearly double the 4.8% of the whole population who are Muslim, while fewer than one in 200 people aged over 85 are Muslim.
It is also an 80% increase on the 176,264 Muslim under-fives recorded in the 2001 census.
“Continuing immigration from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India has been added to by new immigration from African countries and from the Middle East.
“Birth rates of Muslims of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin remain quite high, although falling. There seem to be very low levels of falling away from religion among Muslims.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2014.
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