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Out of every 100 people in your country, how many do you think are Muslim? Ipsos MORI asked people this question in a number of countries around the world where other religions make up the majority, finding that practically all of them overestimated their country's Muslim population. The international survey measured the gap between public perception and reality in 40 countries, with the greatest percentage point difference recorded in France. French respondents guessed that their country has 31 Muslims for every 100 people but the correct number is actually 7.5.
In Germany where Angela Merkel recently called for a burqa ban, people also grossly overestimated the Muslim population to the tune of 16 percentage points. The story was similar in the United States where people guessed there were 17 Muslims per 100 people. In reality, the number is just 1. The lowest gaps between perception and reality were recorded in South Korea and Japan with respondents incorrect by 6 percentage points.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)