There are 20 million Muslims in the European Union.

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The stated figure of 20 million understates the Muslim population of the EU. The Pew Research Center estimated approximately 21.9 million Muslims in the EU-27 alone as of 2016, and demographic growth since then (rising from 4.9% to 6% of Europe's population by 2020) means the current EU-27 figure is likely several million higher.

Omissions

• The MEP did not cite a source or specify a reference year for the figure. The most authoritative estimate (Pew Research 2017, using 2016 data) already showed approximately 22 million Muslims in the EU-27, making 20 million an undercount even against that baseline.
• No single authoritative source provides a precise, up-to-date count of Muslims in the EU-27 because EU-wide census data on religious affiliation is infrequent and inconsistent across member states.
• The Pew 2017 data is now nearly a decade old; a more recent EU-specific estimate was not found in available sources.

Sources

• PrimaryPew Research CenterThe baseline for all three scenarios is the Muslim population in Europe (defined here as the 28 countries presently in the European Union, plus Norway and Switzerland) estimated at 25.8 million in 2016.
• PrimaryPew Research CenterAround 6% of Europe's residents are Muslims.
• SecondaryThe GuardianAccording to Pew's data, Muslims made up 4.9% of Europe's population in 2016, with an estimated 25.8 million people across 30 countries, up from 19.5 million in 2010.