Four-in-ten countries and territories worldwide had blasphemy laws in 2019
79 countries and territories out of the 198 studied around the world (40%) had laws or policies in 2019 banning blasphemy.
Global population projected to exceed 8 billion in 2022; half live in just seven countries
China has the world’s largest population (1.426 billion), but India (1.417 billion) is expected to claim this title next year.
Key findings about the religious composition of India
Religious pluralism has long been a core value in India. A new report shows that India’s religious composition has been fairly stable since 1951.
Religious Composition of India
All major religious groups in India have shown sharp declines in their fertility rates, limiting change in the country’s religious composition since 1951. Meanwhile, fertility differences between India’s religious groups are generally much smaller than they used to be.
Key findings about restrictions on religion around the world in 2019
Social hostilities around the world involving religion declined in 2019 to the lowest level in five years.
41 countries ban religion-related groups; Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baha’is among the most commonly targeted
Around a fifth (21%) of the 198 countries evaluated banned at least one religion-related group in 2019, our analysis found.
Religiously unaffiliated people face harassment in a growing number of countries
Religiously unaffiliated people were harassed by governments, private groups or both in 27 countries in 2020.
2. Causes of religious change
The religious composition of the global population is always in flux. For example, the share of Buddhists worldwide is shrinking because of their low average fertility rate, and Christians are declining in the U.S. and Western Europe as more people leave organized religion. Demographers attribute changes in the size of religious populations to three main […]
1. Religious freedom, discrimination and communal relations
Indians generally see high levels of religious freedom in their country. Overwhelming majorities of people in each major religious group, as well as in the overall public, say they are “very free” to practice their religion. Smaller shares, though still majorities within each religious community, say people of other religions also are very free to […]
4. Restrictions on religion among the 25 most populous countries in 2018
More than three-quarters of the world’s population lives in the 25 most populous countries. Focusing on these countries can shed light on how most people are affected by government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion – although not everyone in any particular country is equally affected by religious restrictions. Religious minorities vary from country to […]
