Why people with no religion are projected to decline as a share of the world’s population
Though the percentage of religiously “nones” in America has risen, the global share of religiously unaffiliated people is expected to fall in coming decades.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Though the percentage of religiously “nones” in America has risen, the global share of religiously unaffiliated people is expected to fall in coming decades.
While the world’s population is projected to grow 32% in the coming decades, the number of Muslims is expected to increase by 70% – from 1.8 billion in 2015 to nearly 3 billion in 2060.
The U.S. religious landscape is already in the midst of some dramatic changes when it comes to the growth or decline of people with certain religious identities. And while it is impossible to predict exactly how that landscape will shift in the future, some key demographic factors — particularly age — can provide a clue as to how things might unfold in the coming decades.
While roughly one-in-five U.S. adults say they were raised by two parents with different religions, just 6% say they now identify with multiple religions.
Pew Research Center estimates that there were about 3.3 million Muslims of all ages living in the United States in 2015. This means that Muslims made up about 1% of the total U.S. population.
It’s a fascinating time for conversations about faith in the United States, with Pope Francis set to visit, a presidential election on the horizon and major trends reshaping the country’s religious landscape.
Christians are declining, both as a share of the U.S. population and in total number, while religious “nones” continue to rise.
The growth of the religiously unaffiliated in the U.S. is occurring across genders, generations and racial and ethnic groups.
If current demographic trends hold, by 2050, Muslims are projected to be more numerous in the U.S. than people who identify as Jewish on the basis of religion.
Pew Research Center’s survey in 18 Latin American countries and Puerto Rico found that many Latin Americans are leaving Catholicism and joining evangelical Protestant churches. We sat down with senior researcher Neha Sahgal to see how these conclusions were reached.
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