Study finds Islam increasing as share of world population while Christianity falls
Much of Christian decline comes from adherents switching to no religion
Whether measured in the number of adherents or as a percentage of the population, Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion, according to a study released this week by the Pew Research Center.
Based on censuses and surveys conducted from 2010 to 2020, the study found that the number of Muslims in the world grew by 347 million, more than for all other religions combined. The number of Muslims totals 2.0 billion as of 2020, or 25.6 percent of the global population.
Meanwhile, although the number of Christians grew substantially, increasing by 122 million to 2.3 billion, Christianity declined as a percentage of worldwide affiliation, from 30.6 to 28.8 percent. It still remains the most common of the world’s religions, however, and Christians are a majority in 120 countries and territories (down from 124 a decade earlier).
The study did not break down the religious adherents to subgroups, such as Catholic and Protestant Christians or Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Here’s a quick look at the 2020 demographic status of the seven major religious groupings included in the study:
Christians: 2.3 billion, down 1.8 percent to 28.8 percent.
Muslims: 2.0 billion, up 1.8 percent to 25.6 percent.
No religious affiliation: 1.9 billion, up 0.9 percent to 24.2 percent.
Hindus: 1.2 billion, down slightly to 14.9 percent.
Buddhists: 0.3 percent, down 0.8 percent to 4.1 percent.
Other religions: 0.2 billion, unchanged at 2.2 percent.
Jews: 0.01 billion, unchanged at 0.2 percent.
Changes attributed to demographics, religious switching
Pew said there are two main reasons for the changes: Younger religious groups are far more likely to be growing, and some religions are experiencing losses as people drop out of the religion, often to become unaffiliated.
Specifically:
Muslim growth is largely due to the relatively young age of the Muslim population as well as their relatively high fertility rate.
Christianity is experiencing widespread disaffiliation, causing it to lose more numbers than what it is gaining by the relatively young age of the Christian population.
The ranks of the unaffiliated are growing largely because of defections from Christianity.
The Buddhist population is declining because of both demographic factors and defections to no religious affiliation.