Islam in Cayman Islands: history and Muslim population data

History of Islam in Cayman Islands

It was largely uninhabited when it was conquered by the British in 1655 and remains an overseas territory of the UK. It has an area of 264 sq km which comprises three islands: Grand Cayman (197 sq km), Cayman Brac (39 sq km), and Little Cayman (29 sq km). However, almost all the population (97%) lives in Grand Cayman.

The 1911 census showed that there were no Muslims in these islands. The number of Muslims was estimated at 200 or 0.5% in 1999. According to 2007 pre-census enumeration data, the number of Muslims was 411 or 0.8% of the total population. However, the number of Muslims dropped to 212 or 0.4% in the 2010 census, then increased to 258 or 0.4% in 2021. The reason may be due to the 2008 global economic crises.

Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will continue to increase by 0.05 of a percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population is expected to remain less than one thousand, comprising 0.8% of the total population by 2100.

Historical Muslim population dataset for Cayman Islands

The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.

For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.