Years – January 31,
2011
According to a
report just released by the Pew
Research Center Forum on Religion
and Public Life, the Muslim
population of Canada will triple
over the next two decades, reaching
2.7 million by 2030. There are
approximately 940,000 today. At
that time they will make up 6.6
percent of the population. The
report is the first in a series of
population projections by religion
to be released by the Pew Center
over the next few years.
Worldwide, the
Muslim population is expected to
increase by about 35 percent, rising
to 2.2 billion by 2030, about twice
the rate of the non-Muslim
population.
While Wahida
Valiente, the national president of
the Islamic Congress is concerned
that the numbers will be used to
stoke the flames of anti-Islamic
rhetoric, a spokesperson for the Pew
Research Center says that the report
isn’t meant to do that.
Valiente said,
“Every time we talk about a growth
in the Muslim population there’s
that sense of, ‘Oh, we’re going to
lose the identifying features of our
Christian country. If people are
going to read this in the most
negative way, then I’m very
concerned.”
Alan Cooperman of
the Pew Research Centre responded by
saying that before this study, which
relies on census data and other
national demographic records from
more than 1,500 sources worldwide,
there was no reliable data on the
global makeup of the Muslim faith.
Estimates ranged wildly and
irresponsibly.
Cooperman said
that the numbers merit attention.
If current trends continue, Muslims
will make up 26.4 per cent of the
world’s total projected population
of 8.3 billion in 2030, up from 23.4
per cent of the estimated 2010 world
population of 6.9 billion.
There are certain
parts of the world that will be
impacted by the growth of Islam. In
sub-Saharan Africa the growth in
numbers is huge, with millions of
Muslims added. By 2030 Pakistan
will pass Indonesia as the most
populous Muslim nation and in Europe
the Muslim population is expected to
reach 58 million, a significant
increase from the present 44.1
percent.
But the most
noticeable increase will be in North
America where immigration, fertility
rates and the relatively youthful
age of the Muslim population will
cause the population to grow quickly
compared to is relatively small
base.
In Canada,
Muslims are expected to make up 6.6
per cent of the total population in
2030, up from 2.8 per cent today. In
the United States, the Muslim
share of the population will rise to
1.7 per cent in 2030 from 0.8 per
cent in 2010.
According to the
2001 Canadian census, the median age
for Muslims in Canada was 28,
compared with 37 for the general
population. Nearly a third of
Muslims in Canada were age 14 and
younger, compared with 19.4 per cent
of non-Muslims. Source:
http://www.bibleleague.ca/news-detail-inter.php?id=329
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