The Muslim population in the world increased by 347 million people from 2010 to 2020, which makes Islam the fastest -growing religious group. This is evidenced by the report published by the American research center Pew Research.
In a report prepared on the basis of data analysis from 2700 sources – including censuses, official records and sociological surveys in 201 countries – religious preferences of the population for a ten -year period.
According to the study, the growth of the Muslim population is explained mainly by natural growth – a high level of birth rate in Muslim communities. During the same period, the Christian population increased by 122 million people, but its share in a global scale has decreased.
If in 2010 Muslims were 23.9% of the world’s population, then by 2020 this figure reached 25.6%. The share of Christians over the same period decreased from 30.6% to 28.8%. The decrease in the number of Christians is primarily observed in Europe and North America, which is associated with the growth of the non -religious population and the release of part of believers from Christianity.
The Islamic population remains concentrated mainly in the Asia-Pacific region, in the Middle East and North Africa. However, the largest growth was recorded in North America – by 52.3%, in the countries of Africa south of Sahara – by 33.8%, and in the Middle East and North Africa – by 23.9%.
At the same time, the Christian population decreased by 10.8% in North America and 8.8% in Europe, while in the countries of Africa south of Sahara increased by 31.2%.
Christianity remains the most common religion in the world, with the exception of the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and North Africa. People who do not relate themselves to any religion (24.2%) make up the third largest group after Christians and Muslims.
It is also noted that the number of Buddhists decreased by 19 million people, and the size of the Jewish population for the period from 2010 to 2020 increased by 6% and reached approximately 15 million people.
The PEW Research report for 2017 emphasized that Islam is the fastest religion in the world, and that by 2075 it can become the largest in number of believers.