Study indicates Islam growing three times as fast as Christianity
(MENAFN) The Muslim population grew nearly three times faster than the Christian population from 2010 to 2020, driven by higher birth rates and lower rates of people leaving the faith, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
During that period, Muslims saw a 21% rise in their numbers, while Christians grew by about 6%. The world’s population overall expanded by 10% in the same time frame, making Islam’s growth rate nearly double that of the general population. The study also highlights that Islam added more people than all non-Muslim groups combined.
Higher birth rates and a younger average age were key contributors to this growth. Between 2015 and 2020, Muslim women were having an average of 2.9 children, while non-Muslim women were having 2.2, the research explained. Conversion and deconversion played a small role in these trends, with both averaging about 1% during the 2010s.
Christianity remained the world’s largest religion in 2020, with 2.3 billion adherents, while Islam followed close behind with 2 billion. Nevertheless, the Christian population's growth fell nearly 2% as a share of the world’s population, due to people disaffiliating from the religion. The study estimates a net loss of nearly 12 adults for every 100 raised Christian.
Conrad Hackett, lead researcher for the study, described the growth of Islam as “striking”—given how much the two faiths’ sizes have gotten closer in a short period.
The research drew from extensive surveys and censuses across 201 countries and examined seven groups: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, people of other faiths, and those with no religious affiliation.
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