American Muslim population to double by 2050: Pew Research
WASHINGTON: At the end of 2015, there were about 3.3 million Muslims living in the United States, making up about 1 per cent of the total US population. This figure is expected to double by 2050.
According to an analysis by the Pew Research Center released on Wednesday, the American Muslim population is projected to cross eight million in the next 35 years.
Aside from Pew's estimates, there is no official estimate of the American Muslim population over the years.
The problem partially lies with the US Census Bureau's methodology, which does not account for questions about religious identity. There is in fact no official government count of the US Muslim population.
According to Pew's estimate, the Muslim population in America outnumbers the Hindu (estimated at 2.1 million) and Sikh populations, although it is fewer than the country's Jewish population (estimated at 5.7 million).
By 2050, Pew expects American Muslims to outnumber all faith groups except for Christians. Pew, which first started tracking the American Muslim population in 2007, has observed a steady growth over the years.
Pew attributes the rise of American Muslims to increased immigration as well as natural increase— Muslims, they observe, typically have more children than people of other faith groups.