Search results for: “religious switching”

When demographers attempt to forecast changes in the size of a population, they typically focus on four main factors: fertility rates, mortality rates (life expectancy), the initial age profile of the population (whether it is relatively old or relatively young to begin with) and migration. In the case of religious groups, a fifth factor is […]

Hindus were the largest religious group in the Asia-Pacific region as of 2010, with about 1 billion adherents. While the number of Hindus is expected to grow to nearly 1.4 billion by 2050, Muslims are projected to grow even faster and become the largest religious group in the region by mid-century. The Muslim population in […]

During the next few decades, the number of religiously unaffiliated people around the world is projected to grow modestly, rising from about 1.1 billion in 2010 to a peak of more than 1.2 billion in 2040 and then dropping back slightly.[1. numoffset=”42″ The religiously unaffiliated population, sometimes called the “nones,” includes those who self-identify as […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

This chapter looks at the size and projected growth of the world’s major religious groups from 2010-2050 in six regions of the world. The regions are presented in alphabetical order: Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, North America and sub-Saharan Africa. Each section begins with […]

The number of Hindus around the world is projected to rise from slightly more than 1 billion in 2010 to nearly 1.4 billion in 2050. This increase will roughly keep pace with overall population growth. As a result, Hindus will remain fairly stable as a share of the world’s population over the next four decades, […]