Think atheist population is skyrocketing and Christianity is dying? You're wrong! The percentage of population who do not identify with any religion (unaffiliated or atheist) has been growing steadily in the past few years. But in coming decades, religiously unaffiliated people are expected to make up a declining share of the world’s population, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. The world is projected to become more religious — not less. How religious diversity will prevail in the time to come? What will be the future of world’s major religious group? How we will cope with atheism and continuous decline in Christian population? Who’ll take the crown in 2050? Pew Research attempts to answer these questions by projecting the changing size and movement of different religious and non-religious groups through the year 2050 based on a variety of demographic factors.

1. The State of Religious Diversity

2. The most popular religions in the world…

3. In 2050, the world is expected to become more religious – not less. Here’s how world’s
major global religions are changing and what we can look forward to.

4. 1. Muslims are the fastest-growing major religious group.
2. The regional distribution of christians is forecast to change significantly.
3. 'Religious nones' are decreasing as a share of the world’s population.
4. Buddhists will decline as a share of the world’s population.

5. 1. MUSLIMS ARE THE FASTEST-GROWING MAJOR RELIGIOUS GROUP.

6. Projected change in global Christian and Muslim populations

7. Muslims are expected to
grow twice as fast as other
religions, primarily due to
higher fertility rates.

8. At mid-century, Muslims will nearly equal
Christians – the world’s largest group – in
size.

9. India is expected to be the
country with the largest
number of Muslims –
more than 310 Million.
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10. 2. THE REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF CHRISTIANS IS F
ORECAST TO CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY.

11. Global share of Christians by Region, 1910 - 2050

12. Four in ten Christians are projected to live in sub-
Saharan Africa in 2050.

13. In 1910, Europe was home to
roughly 66% of the world’s
Christians, with North America a
distant second with 15%. In
2050, Christians living in Europe
will continue to decline to 16%
and only 10% will be living in
North America.

14. The share of people who say they are Christian is expec
ted to drop to 65% in 2050, compared to 75% in 2010.

15. 3. 'RELIGIOUS NONES' ARE D
ECREASING AS A SHARE OF T
HE WORLD’S POPULATION.

16. Projected change in the unaffiliated population, 2010 - 2050

17. By 2050, unaffiliated population is
expected to exceed 1.2 Billion.

18. In the United States, the unaffiliated are projected to grow from
an estimated 16% in 2010 to 26% in 2050.

19. Globally, the unaffiliated are expected to
decrease as a share of the world’s population
between 16% in 2010 to 13% in 2050.

20. 4. BUDDHISTS WILL DECLINE AS A SHARE OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION.

21. Projected compound annual growth rates for Buddhist Between Five Year Periods

22. Buddhist are expected to have a stable population of just under 500 Million.
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23. In 2010, half of the world's Buddhists lived in China though only
about 1 in 5 were Buddhist. The proportion is expected to remain
steady at around 18% between 2010 to 2050.

24. Unites States is expected
to go from having the 13th
largest Buddhist
population in 2010 to the
10th largest Buddhist
population in 2050.

25. Let’s connect!
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Source: Pew Research