Islam fastest-growing religion in world, grew by 347 million in 10 years: Pew report

Islam is the world’s fastest-growing religion, having added more followers than any other religious group over the past decade, according to a new Pew Research Center study.

The global Muslim population rose by 347 million people between 2010 and 2020, shaping a significant demographic shift in the global religious landscape.

The Pew report found that population growth, rather than religious conversion, was the main driver of change. While Christianity remains the world’s largest religion, its proportion of the global population has declined slightly, in contrast to the continued rise in Islam and other religiously unaffiliated groups.

Hindus grew at about the same rate as the world's overall population, reaching 1.2 billion in 2020, of whom 95 per cent are in India.

As of 2020, Hindus made up 79 per cent of the population in India, compared to 80 per cent in 2010. The share of Muslims rose from 14.3 per cent in 2010 to 15.2 per cent in 2020, revealed the analysis titled 'How the Global Religious Landscape Changed from 2010 to 2020'.

Globally, people with no religious affiliation - sometimes called "nones" - were the only category aside from Muslims that grew as a percentage of the world's population, rising by 270 million and reaching 1.9 billion. The share of "nones" climbed by nearly a full percentage point to 24.2 per cent.