Number of British Muslims will double to 5.5m in 20 years

• Muslims to make up quarter of world's projected population of 8.3billion
• 72 countries already have one million or more Muslims
• Britain to have more Muslims than Kuwait by 2030
  

The Muslim population in the UK will almost double to 5.5million within 20 years, it has been claimed.

Immigration and high birth rates will mean nearly one in ten Britons will be Muslim by 2030, according to a worldwide study about the spread of Islam.

And the forecasts mean Britain will have more Muslims than Kuwait.

Rising: Nearly one in ten people in Britain will be Muslim by 2030 because of immigration and high birth rates. The report comes amid continuing debate over the views of Muslims in Britain and attitudes towards them

From 1990 to 2010 the number of followers of the Islamic faith around the world increased at an average rate of 2.2 per cent annually. Last year there were 1.57billion around the world.

The British increase in the Muslim population from the current 2.8million will be mainly driven by immigration, according to figures prepared by a Washington think tank.

Projections by the respected Pew Research Centre said the 40 years between 1990 and 2030 will see a fivefold rise in Britain.

In 1990 there were 1.1million Muslims in Britain, representing two per cent of the population.

By last year that figure had risen to 2.8million, or four per cent. By 2030 the number will hit 5.5million - eight per cent of an estimated 68million population, Pew researchers said.

In the U.S., the number of Muslims will also double by 2030 - rising to 6.2million from 2.6million today. But the percentage of Muslims will remain lower than the UK because the total population is five times bigger there, with around 300million at present.

Last May, official figures showed that there could be 70million people in Britain by 2029 - largely fuelled by the migrant boom.

By comparison, in the same year the Arab state of Kuwait is expected to have a Muslim population of 3.6million, it forecast.

The report said one in four migrants to the UK are Muslims.

In Canada, the number of Muslims is set to nearly treble to 2.7million in 2030 from 940,000 at present, the study found.