In 2020, around 28.8 percent of the global population were identified as Christian. Around 25.6 percent of the global population identify as Muslims, followed by 14.9 percent of global populations as Hindu. The number of Muslims increased by 347 million, when compared to 2010 data, more than all other religions combined.

As of 2010, Christianity was the religion with the most followers worldwide, followed by Islam (Muslims) and Hinduism. In the forty years between 2010 and 2050, it is projected that the landscape of world religions will undergo some noticeable changes, with the number of Muslims almost catching up to Christians. The changes in population sizes of each religious group is largely dependent on demographic development, for example, the rise in the world's Christian population will largely be driven by population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, while Muslim populations will rise across various regions of Africa and South Asia. As India's population is set to grow while China's goes into decline, this will be reflected in the fact that Hindus will outnumber the unaffiliated by 2050. In fact, India may be home to both the largest Hindu and Muslim populations in the world by the middle of this century.

The World Religion Project (WRP) aims to provide detailed information about religious adherence worldwide since 1945. It contains data about the number of adherents by religion in each of the states in the international system. These numbers are given for every half-decade period (1945, 1950, etc., through 2010). Percentages of the states' populations that practice a given religion are also provided. (Note: These percentages are expressed as decimals, ranging from 0 to 1, where 0 indicates that 0 percent of the population practices a given religion and 1 indicates that 100 percent of the population practices that religion.) Some of the religions (as detailed below) are divided into religious families. To the extent data are available, the breakdown of adherents within a given religion into religious families is also provided.

The project was developed in three stages. The first stage consisted of the formation of a religion tree. A religion tree is a systematic classification of major religions and of religious families within those major religions. To develop the religion tree we prepared a comprehensive literature review, the aim of which was (i) to define a religion, (ii) to find tangible indicators of a given religion of religious families within a major religion, and (iii) to identify existing efforts at classifying world religions. (Please see the original survey instrument to view the structure of the religion tree.) The second stage consisted of the identification of major data sources of religious adherence and the collection of data from these sources according to the religion tree classification. This created a dataset that included multiple records for some states for a given point in time. It also contained multiple missing data for specific states, specific time periods and specific religions. The third stage consisted of cleaning the data, reconciling discrepancies of information from different sources and imputing data for the missing cases.

The Regional Religion Dataset: The unit of analysis is the region, measured at five-year intervals. The Correlates of War regional breakdown is used with one modification: the Oceania category is added for Correlates of War nation numbers 900 and above.

As of 2020, Christianity was the largest religion in the world, with around *** billion believers. In the second place was Islam, with around *** billion adherents.

From 2022 to 2060, the worldwide population of Muslims is expected to increase by **** percent. For the same period, the global population of Buddhists is expected to decrease by **** percent.

This dataset describes the world’s religious makeup in 2020 and 2010. We focus on seven categories: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, people who belong to other religions, and those who are religiously unaffiliated. This analysis is based on more than 2,700 sources of data, including national censuses, large-scale demographic surveys, general population surveys and population registers. For more information about this data, see the associated Pew Research Center report "How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020."

World Religions Across Regions

Analyzing Adherence Across Regions, States and the Global System

By Correlates of War Project [source]

About this dataset

The World Religion Project (WRP) is an ambitious endeavor to conduct a comprehensive analysis of religious adherence throughout the world from 1945 to 2010. This cutting-edge project offers unparalleled insight into the religious behavior of people in different countries, regions, and continents during this time period. Its datasets provide important information about the numbers and percentages of adherents across a multitude of different religions, religion families, and non-religious affiliations.

The WRP consists of three distinct datasets: the national religion dataset, regional religion dataset, and global religion dataset. Each is focused on understanding individually specific realms for varied analysis approaches - from individual states to global systems. The national dataset provides data on number of adherents by state as well as percentage population practicing a given faith group in five-year increments; focusing attention to how this number evolves from nation to nation over time. Similarly, regional data is provided at five year intervals highlighting individual region designations with one modification – Pacific Ocean states have been reclassified into their own Oceania category according to Country Code Number 900 or above). Finally at a global level – all states are aggregated in order that we may understand a snapshot view at any five-year interval between 1945‐2010 regarding relationships between religions or religio‐families within one location or transnationally.

This project was developed in three stages: firstly forming a religions tree (a systematic classification), secondly collecting data such as this provided by WRP according to that classification structure – lastly cleaning the data so discrepancies may be reconciled and imported where needed with gaps selected when unknown values were encountered during collection process . We would encourage anyone wishing details undergoing more detailed reading/analysis relating various use applications for these rich datasets - please contact Zeev Maoz (University California Davis) & Errol A Henderson _(Pennsylvania State University)

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How to use the dataset

The World Religions Project (WRP) dataset offers a comprehensive look at religious adherence around the world within a single dataset. With this dataset, you can track global religious trends over a period of 65 years and explore how they’ve changed during that time. By exploring the WRP data set, you’ll gain insight into cross-regional and cross-time patterns in religious affiliation around the world.

Research Ideas

• Analyzing historical patterns of religious growth and decline across different regions
• Creating visualizations to compare religious adherence in various states, countries, or globally
• Studying the impact of governmental policies on religious participation over time

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. Data Source

License

License: Dataset copyright by authors - You are free to: - Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. - Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. - You must: - Give appropriate credit - Provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. - ShareAlike - You must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. - Keep intact - all notices that refer to this license, including copyright notices.

Columns

File: WRP regional data.csv | Column name | Description | |:-----------------|:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Year | Reference year for data collection. (Integer) | | Region | World region according to Correlates Of War (COW) Regional Systemizations with one modification (Oceania category for COW country code ...

In 2022, ** percent of Hindus and Buddhists worldwide lived in Asia-Pacific. In comparison, ** percent of Jews lived in North America, and **** percent lived in the Middle East and North Africa. Christians were more evenly divided around the continents.

This map service shows the breakdown of religious groups by population and percentage for each country. The total population (July 2013 estimate) by country is also included. Map Service published and hosted by Esri Canada © 2013. Content Source(s): Countries, ArcGIS Online World Religions, CIA, The World Factbook 2012 (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html#195 & http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/#wrapper)World Religions, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Excel-Data/population.htm), Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/), Web Archive (http://archive.org/web/web.php), Cultural Crossing (http://www.culturecrossing.net/) and the Association of Religion Data Archives (http://www.thearda.com/). Coordinate System: Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere (WKID 102100) Update Frequency: As Required Publication Date: June 2013 Islam includes Sunni, Shia and DruzeChristianity includes Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Mormon and Jehovah’s WitnessTraditional includes Indigenous beliefs, Shamanism, Spiritualist and AnimistJudaism includes Jewish and ZionistBuddhism includes Buddhist, Shinto, Taoist and Folk religionsSyncretic includes Chondogyo, Cao Dai, Bantu, Voodoo, Modekngei, Kimbanguist and RastafarianNon-religious includes Atheist, Agnostic and IrreligionUnaffiliated includes none, unspecified and unknownOther includes Yezidi and Ethnoreligionist

Christianity was the largest religion in a high number of the countries included in the survey. Of the countries, Peru, South Africa, and Poland had the highest share of Christians at around 75 percent. Moreover, around 90 percent in India and Thailand stated that they believed in another religion, with Hinduism and Buddhism being the major religion in the two countries respectively. Sweden and South Korea were the only two countries where 50 percent or more of the respondents stated that they did not have any religious beliefs.

Population: by Religion: Muslim data was reported at 300.000 Person th in 2017. This stayed constant from the previous number of 300.000 Person th for 2016. Population: by Religion: Muslim data is updated yearly, averaging 90.000 Person th from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2017, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 300.000 Person th in 2017 and a record low of 70.000 Person th in 2004. Population: by Religion: Muslim data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Hong Kong Yearbook. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Hong Kong – Table HK.G011: Population: By Religion.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Uttar Pradesh: Male data was reported at 182,838.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 108,430.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Uttar Pradesh: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 145,634.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 182,838.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 108,430.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Uttar Pradesh: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE004: Census: Population: by Religion: Christian.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Sikkim: Male data was reported at 30,290.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 18,428.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Sikkim: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 24,359.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30,290.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 18,428.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Sikkim: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE004: Census: Population: by Religion: Christian.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Tripura: Male data was reported at 81,480.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 52,815.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Tripura: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 67,147.500 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 81,480.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 52,815.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Tripura: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE004: Census: Population: by Religion: Christian.

In 2023, over ** percent of Indonesians declared themselves to be Muslim, followed by *** percent who were Christians. Indonesia has the largest Islamic population in the world and for this reason is often recognized as a Muslim nation. However, Indonesia is not a Muslim nation according to its constitution. The archipelago is a multifaith country and officially recognizes six religions – Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Not all provinces in Indonesia are Muslim majority The spread of Islam in Indonesia began on the west side of the archipelago, where the main maritime trade routes were located. Until today, most of the Indonesian Muslim population are residing in Western and Central Indonesia, while the majority religion of several provinces in Eastern Indonesia, such as East Nusa Tenggara and Bali, is Christian and Hindu, respectively. Discrimination towards other beliefs in Indonesia The Indonesian constitution provides for freedom of religion. However, the Government Restrictions Index Score on religion in Indonesia is relatively high. Indonesians who practice unrecognized religions, including Indonesia’s indigenous or traditional belief systems, such as animism, dynamism, and totemism, face legal restrictions and discrimination. Indonesian law requires its citizens to put one of the recognized religions on their national identity cards, with some exceptions for indigenous religions. Although legally citizens may leave the section blank, atheism or agnosticism is considered uncommon in Indonesia.

Religion and Bangladesh

Religion in Bangladesh is a sensitive issue, mostly because Bangladesh is officially a secular state but recognizes Islam as an official, state religion. Historically and doctrinally, Islamic scholars don’t accept nations that are secular because they think that religion, society and private life are all part of the great community they like to call ‘umma’.

The main religion in Bangladesh is Islam because it is practiced by almost 90 percent of the country’s population. The rest of 10 percent adhere to Hinduism. The type of Islam that is practiced in Bangladesh is Sunni Islam with a lot of Sufi influences. Sunni is the most numerous branch of Islam in the world. Countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have Sunni majority populations. The Sufi practices that influence the Islamic religion in Bangladesh are commonly known as mysticism. Sufi followers are poor men that don’t eat, don’t drink and spend their days in deep prayer in order to achieve spiritual connection with God.

Bangladesh has the fourth largest Muslim population in the world, with over 130 million followers, right after Indonesia, Pakistan and India. In its constitution, Bangladesh is recognized as a secular state. For a short period of time, when Bangladesh was under Pakistani rule, Islam was made the state’s official religion. But the Supreme Court or High Court of Bangladesh ruled that Bangladesh must return to the principles of the 1972 constitution, meaning that it mustn’t have an official religion.

The problem with Islam gaining too much power in Bangladesh is that it unbalances the genders issues. Islamic edicts or fatwas have been issued mostly against women by religious courts as punishments for their nonreligious behavior. Global NGO’s are fighting such edicts in order to maintain a fair judgment when it comes to men and women. Bangladesh is a country where gender issues, as well as religious issues are very sensitive subjects.

This study, designed and carried out by the "http://www.asarb.org/" Target="_blank">Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB), compiled data on 372 religious bodies by county in the United States. Of these, the ASARB was able to gather data on congregations and adherents for 217 religious bodies and on congregations only for 155. Participating bodies included 354 Christian denominations, associations, or communions (including Latter-day Saints, Messianic Jews, and Unitarian/Universalist groups); counts of Jain, Shinto, Sikh, Tao, Zoroastrian, American Ethical Union, and National Spiritualist Association congregations, and counts of congregations and adherents from Baha'i, three Buddhist groupings, two Hindu groupings, four Jewish groupings, and Muslims. The 372 groups reported a total of 356,642 congregations with 161,224,088 adherents, comprising 48.6 percent of the total U.S. population of 331,449,281. Membership totals were estimated for some religious groups.

In January 2024, the ARDA added 21 religious tradition (RELTRAD) variables to this dataset. These variables start at variable #12 (TOTCNG_2020). Categories were assigned based on pages 88-94 in the original "https://www.usreligioncensus.org/index.php/node/1638" Target="_blank">2020 U.S. Religion Census Report.

Visit the "https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/sources-for-religious-congregations-membership-data" Target="_blank">frequently asked questions page for more information about the ARDA's religious congregation and membership data sources.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Rajasthan data was reported at 96,430.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 72,660.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Rajasthan data is updated decadal, averaging 84,545.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 96,430.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 72,660.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Rajasthan data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE004: Census: Population: by Religion: Christian.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Mizoram data was reported at 956,331.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 772,809.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Mizoram data is updated decadal, averaging 864,570.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 956,331.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 772,809.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Mizoram data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE004: Census: Population: by Religion: Christian.

This survey was conducted by The University of Chicago Divinity School and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and with funding from NORC at the University of Chicago.

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NORC at the University of Chicago is one of the oldest and most respected, objective social science research institutions in the world.

The two organizations have established The AP-NORC Center to conduct, analyze, and distribute social science research in the public interest on newsworthy topics, and to use the power of journalism to tell the stories that research reveals. The founding principles of The AP-NORC Center include a mandate to carefully preserve and protect the scientific integrity and objectivity of NORC and the journalistic independence of The Associated Press. All work conducted by The AP-NORC Center conforms to the highest levels of scientific integrity to prevent any real or perceived bias in the research. All of the work of The AP-NORC Center is subject to review by its advisory committee to help ensure it meets these standards. The AP-NORC Center publicizes the results of all studies and makes all datasets and study documentation available to scholars and the public.