The Changing Global Religious Landscape
Size and projected growth of major religious groups, 2015-2060
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- The Changing Global Religious Landscape
- Estimated shares of births and deaths
- Muslims projected to be fastest-growing major religious group
- Only Muslims and Christians are expected to have increasing number of births; all groups expected to have rising number of deaths due to population aging
- Estimated shares of births and deaths
- Projected change in global population, 2015-2060
- Muslims and Christians have more children per woman than other religious groups
- Christians are the largest religious group in 2015
- The majority of the global unaffiliated population lives in Asia and the Pacific
- Muslims and Hindus are the youngest religious populations
- Babies born to Muslims will begin to outnumber Christian births by 2035
- With wide gulf between births and deaths, Muslims saw more growth than any other religious group due to natural population increase between 2010-2015
- Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where births expected to increasingly outnumber deaths among Christians
- Muslims population growth is expected to slow down in Asia-Pacific and speed up in sub-Saharan Africa
- By 2030, more deaths than births among the unaffiliated in the Asia-Pacific, where majority reside
- Ranks of unaffiliated are expected to grow due to religious switching
- Religiously affiliated women are younger and have more children than religiously unaffiliated women
- Unaffiliated population shares and projected natural increase by region, 2010-2060
- Muslim population shares and projected natural increase by region, 2010-2060
- Christian population shares and projected natural increase by region, 2010-2060
- Natural increase by religion, 2010-2015
- Young adults and the religiously unaffiliated among most likely to think people with no religion will be the largest group in 2050
- Most predict global growth of religious ‘nones’ in coming decades
- About half of Americans know that Christians are largest global religious group
- Most religious population change between 2010 and 2015 came from natural increase (births minus deaths)
- Growing shares of Christians and Muslims expected to live in sub-Saharan Africa
- Among Christians, deaths exceeded births in 24 of 42 countries, 2010-2015
- In many European countries, unaffiliated births exceeded deaths 2010-2015
- Young adults and the religiously unaffiliated among most likely to think people with no religion will be the largest group in 2050
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