Muslim population Around World: According to the new estimates of the Pew Research Center, the number of Muslims has historically recorded the fastest growth in the decade from 2010 to 2020. During this period, the number of Muslims has increased by 34.7 crores to 2 billion, while the number of Christians increased by 12.2 crores to 2.3 billion. While the number of Hindus increased by 126 million to 1.2 billion. The number of Hindus remained stable at 14.9% as a ratio of global population.

This increase is not only important from the perspective of religious diversity, but it also affects the social, economic and political situation of the world. The report mentions that the increase of Muslim population during this period was more than the joint increase of all non-Muslim religions. The increase in Muslim population in 2020 (347 million) itself was more than the total number of Buddhists (324 million).

Difference in Muslim and Christian population: What is the latest figure?
In 2010, the Muslim population was 23.9% of the world’s population and Christians 30.6%, but by 2020 the percentage of Muslims has increased to 25.6%, while the population of Christians has come down to 28.8%. A major reason behind this change was that on an average more birth rate was seen in the Muslim community. According to the study, based on the 2015–2020 data, a Muslim woman gives birth to average 2.9 baby, while for non-Muslim women this rate is 2.2. This difference is gradually reducing the difference between Muslim and Christian population. If this speed continues, then the number of both communities can be almost equal in the coming decades.

Demographic reasons behind Muslim population growth
The report clearly states that the main reasons behind the growth of the Muslim population are demographic features, which are as follows:

• More birth rate (2.9 per woman)
• Low average age (33 years of non-Muslims vs. 24 years)
• Excess of youth population

Such demographic features can be important for social and economic schemes in future. For example, having a youth population means that education, employment and health services will be more required.

Muslim population in different countries of the world
In 2020, the largest number of Muslims was recorded in the Asia-Pacific region, where a total of 1.2 billion Muslims lived. It was followed by 414 million Muslims in the Middle East-North Africa region and 369 million in sub-Sahara Africa. The interesting thing is that even though Islam has come out of the Middle East and North Africa, only 20% of Muslims live there. Globally, the largest part of the Muslim population is in Asia, in which countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh play a major role.

Europe and North America have also recorded an increase in Muslim population, but their total number is less than others. Nevertheless, between 2010 and 2020, the growth rate of Muslim population in these areas was higher than the non-Muslim population.

ALSO READ: Most Wanted Harjit Singh’s prize on Kapil Sharma show, know the crime horoscope