A new report by the Pew Research Center shows that Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of Muslims grew by 347 million, more than any other religious group.

The study, titled Global Religious Landscape, was published on June 9 and takes a close look at how religion around the world has changed over a decade. It includes data on seven major categories: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, people of other religions, and those with no religious affiliation.

Muslims see the biggest growth

The number of Muslims worldwide increased faster than any other religion. According to the report, the share of Muslims in the global population rose by 1.8 percentage points, reaching 25.6% in 2020.

Christianity still largest, but growth is slowing

Christianity remains the largest religion in the world, with 2.3 billion followers. The number of Christians went up by 122 million, but their share of the global population actually fell by 1.8 percentage points to 28.8%.

The report explains this is mainly because fewer people in some regions now identify as Christian. “Most former Christians no longer identify with any religion, but some now identify with a different religion,” the Pew study notes. The decline in Christianity was most noticeable in Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Rise in people with no religion

Coming in third are people who say they have no religious affiliation, often called "nones." Their number grew by 270 million, now totaling 1.9 billion people. Their share in the global population rose by nearly one percentage point, to 24.2%.

Hinduism holds steady

Hindus are the fourth-fastest-growing group. Their numbers went up by 126 million, reaching 1.2 billion in 2020. But since the world’s population also grew during this time, their share stayed nearly the same, about 14.9%, a small drop from 15% in 2010.

Jewish and Buddhist populations

The number of Jews worldwide rose by about 6%, going from 14 million to 15 million. According to the report, 45.9% of Jews now live in Israel, followed by 41.2% in North America.

Buddhism, on the other hand, saw a slight decline in numbers. Pew found that there were 0.8% fewer Buddhists in 2020 compared to 2010, making them the only major religion to experience a drop.

Age differences among religions

The Pew report also studied the age profiles of different religions. In 2020, Muslims had the youngest population, with 33% of them under the age of 15. This is mostly because a large number of Muslims live in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East-North Africa regions, which are known for having younger populations.

On the other hand, Jews and Buddhists had the oldest populations, with 36% of people in both groups aged 50 or older.

Hindus were found to have a majority of their population, about 55%, between the ages of 15 to 49, followed by 33% children.

Christians were spread across all age groups, from the very young in Africa to older adults in Europe, showing their wide presence around the world.

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