According to the results of a poll conducted from July 19th to July 26th and released earlier this week, 39 per cent of French believe that Islam will become the largest religion in France.
The ‘Heart of the French’ survey conducted by Harris Interactive reveals that 39 per cent of French people believe that Islam will be the largest religion in France in the future.
Among Muslims, the percentage increases to 55 per cent, followed by 44 per cent of Roman Catholics.
A further 72 per cent of French say that they fear that if Islam becomes the largest religion in the country, France would lose its historic identity. Catholics were the most concerned at 83 per cent, followed by Protestants and non-religious people at 67 per cent each.
Among Muslims, however, just 17 per cent said that France would lose its identity if Islam were the most widespread and practised religion.
In 2019, a majority of French, 61 per cent, said that Islam was not compatible with French society, with the populist National Rally (RN) led by Marine Le Pen scoring highest in the poll when it came to which party was best suited to tackle the challenges of Islamisation in France.
Earlier this year, another poll highlighted a concern among the French public on the topic of Islamo-Leftism, a phenomenon in which leftist groups and political parties refuse to take tough positions against radical Islamic extremism.
According to a 2020 report from the Pew Research Centre, France’s Muslim population is expected to grow from 5.7 million to as high as 13.2 million by 2050 if migration rates remain high. This could see Muslims make up almost a fifth of the total French population.
Another report from 2019 noted that fewer and fewer young French are actively religious, and that among the 18 to 29-year-old demographic there were already as many practising Muslims as practising Roman Catholics.
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