The global Muslim population grew by nearly 21% in the 2010s, Pew Research Center data suggests
Islam grew approximately three times as fast as Christianity between 2010 and 2020, spurred by higher birth rates and lower rates of deconversion, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.
The global population of Muslims rose by nearly 21% over the ten-year span, while the number of Christians only grew by around 6%, according to data from the study, which was released last week.
The number of Muslims grew twice as fast as the rest of the world’s population, which expanded by 10% during the same decade. Islam also gained more individual followers than all non-Muslim religions combined during the decade, the research indicated.
The study cited higher birth rates and a younger average age among adherents of Islam as key reasons for the growth. On average, a Muslim woman was estimated to have 2.9 children during her lifetime, compared to 2.2 for non-Muslim women, the research suggested, citing 2015-2020 data.
New converts and those leaving the faith had little impact on the growth, as both averaged about 1% during the 2010s, according to the study.
Despite growing more slowly, Christianity had remained the world’s largest religion, with 2.3 billion followers in 2020, while Islam held second place with 2 billion, the research indicated. While the number of Christians grew within the ten-year period, the religion’s overall share of the global population shrank by nearly 2%, according to the data.
Christian population growth has tapered due to high rates of people leaving to become religiously unaffiliated, according to the study. Despite relatively high fertility rates among adherents, the faith witnessed a net loss of 11.6 adults for every 100 adults who were raised as Christian.
“Islam is set to grow to become the world’s largest religion in years ahead, unless trend lines shift,” said Conrad Hackett, the lead researcher at the Pew Research Center and the main author of the study, according to The Washington Post.
He added that it was “striking” to see such a dramatic shift in just a decade, pointing out that the Muslim and Christian populations had grown closer in size as Islam expanded more rapidly than any other major faith.
The research covered thousands of censuses and surveys in 201 countries and focused on seven groups: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, other religions, and individuals who do not identify with any particular religion.
