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Time of India
14 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
Religion in flux: Islam surges, Christianity shrinks; Hinduism holds steady
Between 2010 and 2020, the world's population expanded-and so did nearly every major religious group-according to an analysis of over 2,700 censuses and surveys, a Pew Research Center report said. Christians remained the largest religious group, rising from 2.18 billion to 2.30 billion (+122 million), but their share of the global population shrank from roughly 30.6% to 28.8% (‑1.8 points). Muslims, meanwhile, surged ahead: adding 347 million adherents-the fastest increase among all groups-pushing their total to approximately 2 billion and boosting their global share by 1.8 points to 25.6%, the Pew report said. Other faith categories saw varied trends: the religiously unaffiliated grew to comprise 24.2% of the world's population (up from 23.3%), while Hinduism and Judaism held steady relative to global population growth. Buddhists were the only major religious group that had fewer people in 2020 than a decade earlier. Pew Research Center report on religion Why it matters: Shrinking Christian share, expanding Muslim & 'Nones' sizes Christianity's slowing share reflects not demographic stagnation, but religious switching. As Conrad Hackett, the lead author of the report, explains: 'Among young adults, for every person around the world who becomes Christian, there are three people who are raised Christian who leave.' Despite Christians having a demographic edge via fertility, disaffiliation reversed that advantage. Conversely, the surge in the religiously unaffiliated reflects the same switching pattern: many individuals raised Christian have transitioned into non-affiliation, compensating for the group's demographic disadvantage-its older population and lower fertility. As of 2020, Christians were a majority in 120 countries and territories, down from 124 a decade earlier. Christians dropped below 50% of the population in the United Kingdom (49%), Australia (47%), France (46%) and Uruguay (44%). Pew Research Center report on religion Why these changes? Demographics vs switching Islam's growth is fueled primarily by demographics: a youthful age-structure (average Muslim age 24 vs non-Muslim 33), higher fertility rates, and comparatively low levels of religious switching. Demographic drivers Pew outlines critical demographic influences shaping religious group sizes. Age structure: Younger populations naturally grow faster due to more people in childbearing years. Fertility rates: Higher birth rates lead to larger natural population increase. Mortality rates also play a role, though less emphasized. Muslims benefit from both a youthful demographic and high fertility; Hindus hover near the global fertility average; Jews lag due to older age profiles. Buddhists, meanwhile, are shrinking from both demographic disadvantages and religious switching. Religious Switching Switching-either toward or away from religion-has been a game-changer. Christians experienced notable losses due to large numbers disaffiliating. The unaffiliated gained primarily through former Christians leaving religion-a shift powerful enough to overcome biological disadvantages. Conversion rates are low or negligible for Hindus and Jews, so these groups held steady; Buddhists declined partly due to people de-identifying . Between the lines: Regional shifts Sub-Saharan Christianity A dramatic geographic shift: sub‑Saharan Africa now hosts around 31% of the world's Christians-up from 24.8% in 2010-while Europe's share has declined sharply. The region's high fertility and youth boost Christian numbers, even as disaffiliation wanes in Europe. In one notable exception, Mozambique saw its Christian proportion rise by 5 percentage points. Rise of unaffiliated in China, US, Japan The unaffiliated are most numerous in China (1.3 billion of 1.4 billion), followed by the US (101 million of 331 million) and Japan (73 million of 126 million). Despite many holding personal religious beliefs, only about 10% of Chinese residents formally identify with a specific denomination. Buddhism's decline Buddhists were the only major religious group to shrink in absolute numbers-down from 343 million to 324 million-due to low fertility and defections. Stable Judaism & Hinduism As per the Pew report, Hindu and Jewish populations roughly tracked global population changes. Hindus grew in absolute terms by about 126 million to 1.2 billion, maintaining a stable global share of 14.9%. Jews increased from roughly 13.8 million in 2010 to 14.8 million in 2020-just 0.2% of the world population. The combined 'other religions' category (eg, Baha'is, Jains, folk traditions) also mirrored global population growth, holding steady at 2.2%. What's next Shifting global balance Christianity's dominance remains absolute, but its share is eroding due to disaffiliation. Islam continues steady growth and is projected to approach parity with Christianity by mid-21st century. The unaffiliated segment, though biologically disadvantaged, is rising due to cultural shifts and deconversion trends. Cultural and political impact The rise of secularization, particularly in developed nations, may reshape societal norms and policymaking. Conversely, religiosity in regions like sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia could mean continued importance of religious identity in daily life and governance.
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Islam increases its share of the global population as the world's fastest-growing religion and Christianity slips, study shows
Islam is growing faster than any other religion in the world, according to a new study. Muslims now make up 25.6 per cent of the global population, while Christians make up 28.8 per cent, the report - which was released by the Pew Research Center on Monday - says. But the growth of Christianity has not kept up with the global population increase, with the religion's worldwide share slipping by 1.8 per cent. This fall-off is largely driven by disaffiliation, as well as aging populations and lower fertility rates. The Muslim population's share, on the other hand, increased by 1.8 per cent. Researchers said reasons for this growth was likely due to Islam's younger population and higher birthrates in some areas. Commenting on the trend, lead author of the Pew report, Conrad Hackett, said: 'It's just striking that there was such dramatic change in a 10-year period. 'During this time, the Muslim and Christian populations grew closer in size. Muslims grew faster than any other religion.' In addition, the study found that the largest share of Christians, which is about 31 per cent, can be found in sub-Saharan Africa, as opposed to Europe which has historically been home to the largest number of Christians in the world. At the same time, large numbers of former Christians are now falling into the unaffiliated category, which includes atheists, agnostics and people who simply don't identify with any religion. This is now the third largest religious category globally at 24.2 per cent, which shows a rise from 16 per cent a decade ago. 'Among young adults, for every person around the world who becomes Christian, there are three people who are raised Christian who leave', Hackett said. The study also found the number of Buddhists to have plunged, dropping to 4.1 per cent. Pew cites a low birth rate and rising disaffiliation in East Asia. Hinduism remained steady at 1.49 per cent, while Judaism, making up just 0.2 per cent of the global population, also fell behind the global growth rate. The study looked at more than 2.700 censuses and survey across 201 countries and territories, covering nearly the entire global population.
Washington Post
a day ago
- General
- Washington Post
Islam grows, Christianity slips as share of world population, survey finds
While Christians remained the world's largest religious group at the end of the decade that ended in 2020, its growth did not keep up with global population increase. But Islam — the world's fastest-growing major religion — increased its share of the world population, as did the religiously unaffiliated, the Pew Research Center found in a report released Monday. Even as the overall number of Christians — counted as one group, across denominations — continued to climb to 2.3 billion, the religion's share of the world population decreased by 1.8 percentage points, a falloff driven in large part by disaffiliation. The Muslim population, on the other hand, increased by 1.8 percentage points, according to the report, which examined changes in religious demographics through an analysis of more than 2,700 censuses and surveys. 'It's just striking that there was such dramatic change in a 10-year period,' said Pew's Conrad Hackett, lead author of the report. 'During this time, the Muslim and Christian populations grew closer in size. Muslims grew faster than any other major religion.' The report attributed the growth in Islam to a younger Muslim population — with an average age of about 24, as opposed to a global average age among non-Muslims of about 33 as of 2020 — along with higher fertility rates in some areas and lower rates of disaffiliation as compared with other religions, including Christianity. 'Among young adults, for every person around the world who becomes Christian, there are three people who are raised Christian who leave,' Hackett said. The most Christians — about 31 percent — can be found in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study. Previously, Europe was home to the largest number of Christians in the world. 'And that's the result of high fertility, youthfulness and rapid growth in general of sub-Saharan Africa,' Hackett said, 'as well as the aging, lower fertility and disaffiliation going on in Europe.' Religion switching — seen in high numbers among Christians — contributed to the global rise of unaffiliated people, the report found. Nearly a quarter of the world's population did not identify with a religion in 2020 (24.2 percent), as opposed to 23.3 percent in 2010. Researchers previously estimated the unaffiliated population would shrink because of older age and fewer people having children, Hackett said. However, people leaving religion, and especially departing Christianity, has led to the increase of the population, Hackett said. The world's biggest unaffiliated population is estimated to be in China: 1.3 billion people, out of 1.4 billion, followed by the United States, with 101 million disaffiliated out of 331.5 million, and Japan, with 73 million out of 126.3 million. In China, it is common for people to have religious beliefs, but only 10 percent of the population formally identify with a particular denomination or religion, the Pew Research Center reported in 2023. In a similar way, the new report measures the self-described affiliations of people around the world and may not capture the nuances and fullness of complex and evolving identities. Many people hold religious or spiritual beliefs or attend worship services but eschew formal labels. Another group that underwent significant loss in population were Buddhists, the only religion that had fewer members in 2020 (324 million) than in 2010 (343 million); this was due to disaffiliation and low birth rate. Those who identified as Hindu and Jewish maintained a steady rate with the world's population, the report found. 'Sometimes we hear rumors of religious revival, and it's certainly possible that in particular places religion could grow,' Hackett said. 'But in this careful 10-year study that we've done, the broad trend is that in many places people are moving away from religion.' Based on patterns of religion switching and differences in age and fertility, Hackett estimated that the 'movement towards convergence' between Christians and Muslims will continue, with Islam set to grow to become the world's largest religion in years ahead, unless trend lines shift. 'The next step of our ongoing work in this project will be to do some demographic population projections to provide new estimates of sort of exactly when they might converge,' Hackett said.
