Which country has the world's largest Muslim population?

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population.

About 244 million Indonesians were Muslim in 2024, representing roughly 87.1% of the country’s population. Indonesia is therefore both the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country and the country with the greatest absolute number of Muslims.

Islam spread through the Indonesian archipelago largely via maritime trade and networks of merchants, scholars, and rulers from the Indian Ocean world. Muslim sultanates grew in places such as northern Sumatra, Java, and the Moluccas, while earlier Hindu-Buddhist traditions continued to shape Indonesian culture. Bali, for example, remains predominantly Hindu.

A common mix-up is to choose Pakistan or Bangladesh because Islam forms a larger share of their populations. India is also home to one of the world’s largest Muslim communities, despite being Hindu-majority. The question asks for the largest number of Muslims, not the highest percentage.