How many muslims compared to christians

You may regret it or welcome it, but it has proved unstoppable. But the world is converging demographically, and fast. One of the only iron laws governing human societies is that when women are both educated and free to work for money, they choose to have fewer children, whatever their bishops and imams may say. Fertility in Muslim-majority Iran fell as fast in the s and s as it had done in Communist China under the one-child policy a decade earlier.

Islam would have had a share of But Christianity would have had only To understand what has been going on, consider Africa. Much of this reflected the massive expansion of evangelical and pentecostalist churches across the continent, from Abidjan to Zanzibar. The five-year periods described in this report represent midyear to midyear time spans — for example, from July 1, , to June 30, — which are standard units used in demography and by organizations including the United Nations Population Division.

November By , Muslims are expected to make up Jews constituted 0. Both figures round to 0. For the purposes of the religious group projections in this report, these people are categorized as unaffiliated. The worldwide estimate of Jews could be larger if this group were included, or smaller if a narrower definition of who is Jewish such as an unbroken line of matrilineal Jewish descent were used. Because of the scarcity of census and survey data, Pew Research Center has not projected the size of individual religions within this category.

Estimates of the global size of these faiths generally come from other sources, such as the religious groups themselves.

By far the largest of these groups is Sikhs, who numbered about 25 million in , according to the World Religion Database. In countries with low infant and child mortality rates, a total fertility rate close to 2. Replacement-level fertility is higher in countries with elevated mortality rates. The most populous countries for which switching was not modeled are China and India. Prior to this study, the most extensive analysis of religious switching covered 40 countries.

See Barro, Robert J. It is difficult to formally project religious switching in China without reliable information on recent or likely patterns of switching. For example, it is not clear at what rate people in China may be converting to Christianity from other groups, and retention patterns among Christians are not known. Nor is it clear at what rate Islam, Buddhism and other faiths may be gaining adherents in China.

If China experiences a net movement toward religious affiliation via switching in the decades ahead, that would tilt the needle toward a more religiously affiliated global population, particularly since China is currently home to a majority of the worldwide unaffiliated population. Change in religious affiliation may occur as young adults move away from their parents and partner with someone of a different affiliation status. While some religious switching may take place at other ages, switching is modeled as a life course phenomenon in which some young adults change their religious affiliation status.

There may be some time periods during which people of all ages are prone to religious switching, such as when political circumstances in a country encourage or discourage religious identity or lack of religious identity.

Our models do not attempt to include such period effects. Grim and Vegard Skirbekk. The survey questions discussed in this sidebar were developed before the first report was released, which is why they ask about expectations for the size of religious groups in rather than Table of Contents The Changing Global Religious Landscape A note about terminology Global population projections, to Change in where groups are concentrated Age and fertility are major factors behind growth of religious groups The demographic challenges of the religiously unaffiliated What Americans believe and expect about the global size of religious groups How births and deaths are changing religious populations Acknowledgments Appendix B: Methodology for this report.

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Or somewhere in between? People that practice Islam are known as Muslims. There are 50 Muslim-majority countries worldwide. Hinduism is the third-largest religion globally. Hinduism is considered dharma, or way of life. It originated on the Indian subcontinent and is widely practiced throughout Southeast Asia. The four main denominations are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Unsurprisingly, India has the largest Hindu population but not the highest percentage of Hindus.

There are an estimated 1. Nepal has the second-highest Hindu population at Buddhism also originated in India and is based on the teachings of Buddha. Buddhists have unique traditions, values, and beliefs, such as reincarnation.

About million people practice Buddhism worldwide. China has the largest Buddhist population with Frank Jacobs , Big Think. Take action on UpLink. Explore context.

Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis. At a glance, this map shows both the size and distribution of world religions. See how religions mix at both national and regional level. There's one country in the Americas without a Christian majority — which? Image: Carrie Osgood. Christianity blue dominates in the Americas, Europe and the southern half of Africa. Islam green is the top religion in a string of countries from northern Africa through the Middle East to Indonesia.

India stands out as a huge Hindu bloc dark orange. Buddhism light orange is the majority religion in South East Asia and Japan. The Americas are mostly solidly Christian. Which is the least Christian country in the Americas? The answer may surprise you. Other countries with a lot of 'grey' in their pies include Canada, Cuba, Argentina and Chile.