Officially, France has around 62 million inhabitants including 42 million Catholics, 600 000 Jews, 900 000 Protestants and 5 million Muslims. Are these numbers trustworthy ?
Absolutely not. For a very simple reason : it is illegal to inquire about the so-called “race” or religion of any person living on the French soil. Demographers are obliged to ask a special permission to the state ; they can work only for a limited time and on a limited scale of population. If we consider the number of Jews, for example, only a minority of them are religious. The vast majority has only a vague feeling of belonging to the Jewish people, and they go once a year – being optimistic – to the synagogue.
What about the Muslims ? If we believe most journalists and politicians (not to speak of Le Pen and its extremist National Front) the most common figure turns around 5-6 million Muslims who supposedly are all devoted to their religion. Nevertheless, a demographer specialized in immigration studies, Michele Tribalat, estimates that there are three million Muslims in France and that only 20% follow all the prescriptions of Islam. (33% pray every day, 20% go to the mosk on Friday, and 70% observe a strict fasting during the month of Ramadan). The statistics vary a lot according to the nationalities involved.
Religious practice for Muslims :
29 % of the Algerians ; 36 % of the Turks ; 40 % of the Moroccans ; 65 % of the African Mandés
Among the descendants of Algerian migrants born in France
30 % of men have a religious practice ; 40 % of women
Among the youth (25-29 years)
18 % of the girls and 10 % of the boys
Some statistics about Islam and other religions
Article mis en ligne le 18 mai 2017