The alarming rise of Islamophobia in France is now reflected in a striking statistic: 66% of Muslims report having been victims of racist behavior, according to a survey by the French Institute of Public Opinion (Ifop). Published on Monday, September 15, the findings shed light on what the study describes as a «multidimensional discriminatory system», offering valuable guidance for shaping more effective measures to address the issue.

By Ghita Zine (       Latifa Babas)

16/09/2025 19h00Estimated read time: 2′

March against Islamophobia, November 10, 2019, in Paris / Ph. Geoffroy van der Hasselt – AFP

In France, two-thirds of Muslims (66%) say they have experienced racist behavior. According to a survey by the French Institute of Public Opinion (Ifop) commissioned by the Great Mosque of Paris, 82% believe that hatred toward Muslims «is now a widespread phenomenon in France». The 66% figure is three times higher than that reported by the general French population (20%), based on comparable data collected in 2023.

This new data is compiled in the Observatory of Discrimination Against French Muslims, based on responses from a representative sample of 1,005 French Muslims aged 15 and older, surveyed between August and September 2025.

An Issue of Cohesion

The survey shows that 51% of Muslims report having faced discrimination during job searches due to their religion, compared with just 7% for other religious groups. Housing is another barrier, with 46% of Muslims citing discrimination compared to 6% among others. Even public services, which are «supposed to embody state neutrality», emerge as spaces where discrimination has become «normalized».

Ifop’s findings highlight discrimination across multiple sectors: 36% of Muslims report bias from public administration officials, 29% from healthcare professionals, and 38% from teachers. In this context, the rector of the Great Mosque of Paris, Chems-eddine Hafiz, stressed that «the fight against Islamophobia» is not a «community demand» but rather «a matter of national security and republican cohesion».

The institution argues that this data represents a «paradigm shift», moving from «primarily reactive outrage to a statistical objectification of exclusion mechanisms», while underlining the central role of public spaces in perpetuating discrimination.

Monitoring and Targeted Action

Citing Ifop’s figures, the Great Mosque of Paris stresses that discrimination often occurs «at the gateways to real equality», notably in employment (51%), housing (46%), police checks (51%), and public services (administrations 36%, hospitals 29%, teachers 38%).

«The fact that supposedly neutral spaces are cited by nearly a third of respondents constitutes a strong institutional signal: de jure neutrality does not guarantee de facto equality», the institution observed, pointing to a «logic of intersectionality».

The survey shows that religious visibility (such as wearing the veil or cultural attire) or identity markers (a pronounced accent—85%, sub-Saharan origins—84%) sharply increase the probability of discrimination, estimated at 85%. «In other words, religion often serves as a metonymy where other social sorting logics converge», the Great Mosque noted, echoing Ifop’s conclusion of a «multidimensional discriminatory system» whose factors «mutually reinforce each other».

From these results, the institution identifies «three sociological orientations»: first, the need to «test, objectify, and publish» by generalizing long-term testing campaigns with comparable indicators; second, to «train where equality is at stake», targeting frontline services such as administrative reception, healthcare, education, and company HR; and third, to «establish a semi-annual GMP-Ifop barometer, maintaining comparative control». Without such a «methodological mirror», they caution, «one risks confusing short-term fluctuations with long-term trends».

source https://en.yabiladi.com/articles/details/176502/islamophobia-france-affects-percent-muslims.html