Sunday, 2 August 2015

Muslims to outnumber Christians worldwide by 2070: Islam will be only major religion to increase faster than world’s population.

  • Muslims will increase at more than double the rate of world's population
  • Largest proportion of Muslims likely to be in India, data showed
  • Research was completed by the Pew Research Center in America

    There will be more Muslims than Christians in the world in less than sixty years, new research revealed.

    The religion's share of the world’s population will equal the Christian share - at roughly 32 per cent each - in 2070, analysis by the Pew Research Center showed.
    The number of Muslims will increase at more than double the rate of the world's population, which is expected to rise by 35 per cent in the next four decades. 
    There will be more Muslims than Christians in the world in less than sixty years, the Pew Research Center has claimed. Above, Kashmiri Muslims pray outside a mosque in Srinagar
    By 2100 around one per cent more of the world’s population will be Muslim than Christian, with the largest proportion of followers in India.

    Several countries are also projected to have a different religious majority by 2050.
    The number of countries with a Christian majority is expected to decline from 159 to 151, the report claimed

    Less than 50 per cent of the population will be Christian in the United Kingdom, Australia, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Republic of Macedonia.

    By 2050 Muslims will make up around ten per cent of Europe's population. 

    It is thought the religion will thrive due to its young population and high fertility rates, with an average of 3.1 children per woman. 
    By 2100 there will be around one per cent more Muslims than Christians (graph left), with the largest proportion of the religion's followers in India. The map (above) also shows population growth rate for each country

    COUNTRIES THAT WILL NO LONGER HAVE A CHRISTIAN MAJORITY IN 2050 
     
    COUNTRYMAJORITY RELIGION 2010 PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION 2010 (%)MAJORITY RELIGION 2050  PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION 2050 (%)
    AustraliaChristian67.3Christian 47
    UKChristian64.3Christian45.4
    FranceChristian63Unaffiliated44.1
    New ZealandChristian57Unaffiliated45.1 
    NetherlandsChristian50.6Unaffiliated  49.1
    Bosnia-Herzegovina Christian52.3Muslim49.4  
     Source: Pew Research Center, The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050.
    The rate is well above the 2.1 replacement level - the minimum typically needed to maintain a stable population - and the fertility rate of Christians, which is around 2.7 children per woman.

    The Pew Research Center's report said: 'Religions with many adherents in developing countries – where birth rates are high and infant mortality rates generally have been falling – are likely to grow quickly. 
    'Much of the worldwide growth of Islam and Christianity, for example, is expected to take place in sub-Saharan Africa.' 
    The data also revealed that the number of atheists, agnostics and those who are religiously unaffiliated will decline from 16 per cent of the world's population to 13 per cent in the next four decades. 

    Buddhism will also decline, with its followers decreasing by 0.3 per cent


      

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