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Muslims rise while Christians fall in Britain

By IANS,

London : The number of Muslims in Britain has grown by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million in four years, according to official research collated for The Times newspaper.

The population multiplied 10 times faster than the rest of society, the research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals. In the same period the number of Christians in the country fell by more than two million, the newspaper reported.

It quoted experts as attributing the rise to immigration, higher birthrate, more conversions, and a “growing willingness among believers to describe themselves as Muslims because the western reaction to war and terrorism had strengthened their sense of identity”.

According to the ONS, which gathered its data from the quarterly Labour Force Survey of around 53,000 homes, there are more than 42.6 million Christians in Britain.

However, the biggest Christian population is in the over-70s age group, while for Muslims it is among under-4s, who numbered 301,000 as of September last year.