Islam will be largest religion in the world by 2070, says report

Описание: Islam will be largest religion in the world by 2070, says report
US-based Pew Research Centre analysed demographic change among the world's major religions and found that the world's population of Muslims will grow by 73 per cent between 2010 and 2050, compared to 35 per cent for Christians, the next fastest-growing faith.
The world's population will grow by 37 per cent over the same period. If those rates of growth continue past 2050, Muslims will outnumber Christians by 2070, the report found.
It also says that Muslims will make up 10 per cent of Europe's population.
In 2010 there were 1.6bn Muslims in the world, and 2.17bn Christians. By 2050, there will be 2.76bn Muslims and 2.92bn Christians - and if both religions continue at that rate of growth, Islam will have a larger number of followers than Christianity by 2070.
Atheists, agnostics and non-religious people will decline from 16.4 per cent of the world's population to 13.2 per cent by 2050, the report added, despite growing in Europe and North America.
The changes are partly due to the various fertility rates each religion has. Muslims have the highest, at 3.1 children per woman, followed by Christians, at 2.7.
Islam also has a much younger follower-base than other religions, meaning believers still have childbearing years ahead. 34 per cent are aged under 15, compared to a global average of 27 per cent.
Christianity is also likely to suffer as more converts leave to become non-religious or to join other faiths, the report predicted.
A report by the US-based Pew Research Centre concluded that, with the world’s population also booming by 37 per cent, Muslims are expected to outnumber Christians by 2070.
The same study showed 10 per cent of Europe’s population would follow Islam by that year.
Meanwhile, the proportion of the world’s population who identify as atheist, agnostic or non-religious is set to decline from 16.4 per cent to 13.2 per cent by 2050.
Islam’s rise is partly down to the high fertility rates of Muslim women, alongside the religion’s younger followers, the research showed.
The median age for Muslims is 23, around seven years younger than the average for those who don’t follow Islam.
The report stated: “As a result, a larger share of Muslims already are, or will soon be, at the point in their lives when they begin having children.
"This, combined with high fertility rates, will fuel Muslim population growth.
"While it does not change the global population, migration is helping to increase the Muslim population in some regions, including North America and Europe."


The survey further adds that Europe’s population in 2070 will have 10 per cent Muslims, also highlighting the attitude of Europeans towards Muslims.
“Majorities in Hungary, Italy, Poland and Greece say they view Muslims unfavorably, while negative attitudes toward Muslims are much less common in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Northern and Western Europe,” the report reads. “People who place themselves on the Right side of the ideological scale are much more likely than those on the Left to see Muslims negative
The research cites fertility as one of the major reasons behind the demographic change, placing Muslims with the highest rate of reproduction at 3.1 children per woman followed by Christians at 2.7.
Another reason is people moving away from Christianity as the report predicts around 40 million Christians to convert while another 106 million to become non-religious.
By 2075, Muslims are expected to outnumber Christians, even as both groups continue to increase as a share of the world's population, largely due to their concentration in countries with relatively high fertility rates."
The research builds on 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers used within the Pew Research Center's 2015 report The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050.