Study finds an extra million Muslims living in Germany

There are around a million more Muslims living in Germany than had previously been thought, according to a new survey.

• Government aims to hire more minorities (1 Feb 12)
• Language school grads 'barely spoke German' (31 Jan 12)
• 'Muslim taxi' offers gender-segregated rides (27 Jan 12)

The Nuremberg Ministry for Migration and Refugees found that there are between 3.8 million and 4.3 million Muslims living in Germany, making up about five percent of the entire German population. It was previously estimated that there were between 3 million and 3.5 million Muslims living here.

More than half of Muslims in Germany originate from Turkey. As many as 2.7 million Turkish people are living here, making up more than three percent of the population. Another 600,000 Muslim people come from Southeastern Europe and the Middle East.

Just under half, or 45 percent, of Muslim migrants are foreign-born but now hold a German passport. Yet when it comes to integration, the survey still found deep defecits.

Concerning education, Muslims were found to be particularly conservative, making integration of children difficult. Ten percent of Muslim girls are kept home from school trips, another seven percent are withdrawn from swimming lessons and 15 percent are exempt from sexual education classes for religious reasons. However, more than three-quarters of those surveyed would welcome Islamic religion courses in the schools.

The researchers found that integration in schools improved significantly with second generation Muslims, or those born in Germany.

The majority of Muslims in Germany attend Mosque services “rarely to never”, while only a third go regularly. Only 30 percent of Muslims here wear the politically-disputed head scarf, and usually pass the tradition down to their children.

The study questioned 6,004 people from 49 Muslim states living in Germany about everything from origin to religion to integration - for themselves and their families, bringing the total number of people covered by the study to 17,000. Almost all Muslims in Germany – 98 percent – live in the former western states and eastern parts of Berlin.