The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050
As of 2010, nearly a third of the world’s population identified as Christian. But if demographic trends persist, Islam will close the gap by the middle of the 21st century.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
As of 2010, nearly a third of the world’s population identified as Christian. But if demographic trends persist, Islam will close the gap by the middle of the 21st century.
An estimated 405 million people – or about 6% of the world’s population – were adherents of folk or traditional religions in 2010, and that number is expected to grow to 450 million by 2050. This increase will not keep pace with overall population growth, however, and the folk religion population is expected to drop […]
In 2010, 0.8% of the world’s population belonged to religious groups not classified elsewhere in this report. By 2050, adherents of other religions are expected to decline slightly as a share of the world’s population (to 0.7%). This “other religions” category includes followers of religions that are not specifically measured in surveys and censuses in […]
As of 2010, there were nearly 14 million Jews around the world. In 2050, the Jewish population is expected to number about 16 million. The share of the world’s population that is Jewish – 0.2% – is expected to remain about the same in 2050 as it was in 2010. Over the next few decades, […]
The number of Muslims around the world is projected to increase rapidly in the decades ahead, growing from about 1.6 billion in 2010 to nearly 2.8 billion in 2050.[1. numoffset=”40″ For more information about Islam and its major branches (Sunni and Shia), see “Defining the Religious Groups.”] Muslims are expected to grow twice as fast […]
Christians remain by far the largest religious group in the United States, but the Christian share of the population has declined markedly. In the past seven years, the percentage of adults who describe themselves as Christians has dropped from 78.4% to 70.6%. Once an overwhelmingly Protestant nation, the U.S. no longer has a Protestant majority. […]