Muslim Population: The global Muslim population is expected to rise by up to 70 percent in the next 35 years, and will breach the 3 billion mark by the year 2060, making Islam the largest religion in the world, surpassing Christianity, a new study has predicted. According to report by the Pew Research on world’s fastest growing religions, Christianity is currently the world’s largest religion, accounting for 31 percent of the world’s 7.3 billion population, followed by Islam at second place, and Hinduism in third spot.
As per the study, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world at present, and will become the world’s largest religious group by the year 2060, mainly due to three major reasons– young population, high fertility rate, and the practice of religious conversion. The report estimates the global population to increase by around 32 percent by 2060, while the Muslim population is expected to increase by up to 70 percent.
The report had made this estimate for the 45-year period between 2015 to 2060, noting that in 2015, the Muslim population was 1.8 billion globally, which will likely reach the three billion mark by the year 2060.
As per the report, there are various factors contributing to the rapid surge in Muslim population, such as having a young population and a high fertility rate, which is the highest among religious groups. The report revealed that Muslim women have fertility rate of 3.1, followed by Christian women at 2.7.
In developing countries, the fertility rate of Muslims and Christians is very high, while the mortality rate is low, due to which their population is rapidly increasing, an expected to rise by 12 percent by 2050, in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, the report noted.
In its 2010 report, the Pew Research Center had revealed that 34 percent of the world’s Muslim population was under 15 years of age, 60 percent were between 15 and 59 years, and only 7 percent were 60 or older. Most Muslims live in Africa and the Middle East, where global population growth rates are projected to be the highest.
As per the Pew Research Center report, around 19.4 percent of India’s population will be Muslim by 2060, against 14.9 percent it had in 2015. The report estimates that India’s Muslim population will reach 33 crore in the next 36 years.
It further estimates that the population of Christians will increase by 34 percent, while the Hindu population is expected to grow by just 27, below the global population growth average, by 2060. At present, Christians and Hindus constitute 34 and 15 percent of the global population, respectively.
