Islam’s growth outpaces Christianity

(MENAFN) Between 2010 and 2020, Islam expanded at roughly three times the rate of Christianity, driven largely by higher birth rates and fewer people leaving the faith, according to recent findings from the Pew Research Center.

During this decade, the global Muslim population increased by nearly 21%, while the number of Christians grew by just about 6%. This growth rate for Muslims was double that of the world’s overall population, which grew by 10% over the same period. Additionally, Islam attracted more new followers than all non-Muslim religions combined throughout these years.

The study pointed to factors such as a younger demographic and higher fertility among Muslims as major contributors. Data from 2015 to 2020 indicated that, on average, Muslim women have 2.9 children, compared to 2.2 among non-Muslim women.

Conversions and people leaving the religion had minimal effect on growth, with both hovering around 1% in the 2010s.

Although Christianity grew more slowly, it remained the world’s largest religion with 2.3 billion adherents in 2020, followed by Islam with 2 billion. However, Christianity’s share of the global population declined by nearly 2% during the decade.

The slowdown in Christian growth is attributed mainly to significant numbers leaving the faith to become religiously unaffiliated. Despite relatively high fertility rates, Christianity experienced a net loss of 11.6 adults for every 100 raised in the religion.

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