Islam is said to be the fastest growing religion in the world. It was estimated in 2012 that there were more than 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide.
Christianity, which is the current largest religion in the world, is said to be practiced by more than 2.2 billion people worldwide. It is therefore clear that the two Abrahamic religions will have to share their status as the dominant religion in the world. For now.
A new study by the Pew Research Center (PRC)-a nonpartisan American think tank that provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends- has said that the number of Muslims will surpass the number of Christians after 2070.
Globally, Muslims are said to have the highest fertility rate of any religious group, an average of 3.1 children per woman. This is well above the replacement level, the minimum level of reproduction required to maintain a population at current numbers, which is 2.1.
The PRC study revealed that by 2050, Muslims will approach the number of Christians. However, it also said that in the next four decades, Christianity will continue to be in the driving seat as the world’s largest religion.
“The religious profile of the world is rapidly changing, driven primarily by differences in fertility rates and the size of youth populations among the world’s major religions, as well as by people switching faiths. Over the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, but Islam will grow faster than any other major religion. If current trends continue, by 2050, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world”, the study said.
The study also made some interesting finding regarding demographics and how the global religion situation will be by 2050.
“Atheists, agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion – though increasing in countries such as the United States and France – will make up a declining share of the world’s total population. In Europe, Muslims will make up 10% of the overall population.”
“The global Buddhist population will be about the same size it was in 2010, while the Hindu and Jewish populations will be larger than they are today. India will retain a Hindu majority but also will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia.”
“In the United States, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters of the population in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050, and Judaism will no longer be the largest non-Christian religion. Muslims will be more numerous in the U.S. than people who identify as Jewish on the basis of religion. Four out of every 10 Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa”, an excerpt of the study revealed.
The study said that after 2050, Islam will begin to compete neck-to-neck with Christianity and eventually take the lead just after 2070, becoming the world’s largest religion.
“Given the rapid projected increase from 2010 to 2050 in the Muslim share of the world’s population, would Muslims eventually outnumber Christians? And, if so, when? If the main projection model is extended beyond 2050, the Muslim share of the world’s population would equal the Christian share, at roughly 32% each, around 2070. After that, the number of Muslims would exceed the number of Christians, but both religious groups would grow, roughly in tandem, as shown in the graph above. By the year 2100, about 1% more of the world’s population would be Muslim (35%) than Christian (34%)’’, it said.
The study also added that “projected growth of Muslims and Christians would be driven largely by the continued expansion of Africa’s population. Due to the heavy concentration of Christians and Muslims in this high-fertility region, both groups would increase as a percentage of the global population. Combined, the world’s two largest religious groups would make up more than two-thirds of the global population in 2100 (69%), up from 61% in 2050 and 55% in 2010.”
Anonymous is not at all bothered by who gets to be the dominant religion in the world. What we expect is that these two religions, as well as other religions, are able to offer the world something worthwhile: peace. That is what we stand for. Expect us to continue to reveal the truth, so that we all can struggle for a peaceful world!
