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.

From 2022 to 2060, the worldwide population of Muslims is expected to increase by 45.7 percent. For the same period, the global population of Buddhists is expected to decrease by 12.2 percent.

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.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Punjab: Female data was reported at 166,189.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 138,127.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Punjab: Female data is updated decadal, averaging 152,158.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 166,189.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 138,127.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Punjab: Female 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.

At the end of 2023, the population of Israel reached almost 9.7 million permanent residents. Jewish residents formed the largest religious group, with just over 7.15 million people. The Muslim population in the country, formed the largest religious minority at over 1.7 million individuals. Conversely, the smallest religious group was that of the Druze with about 151,000 people.

India Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: Urban data was reported at 68,740,419.000 Person in 2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 49,393,496.000 Person for 2001. India Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: Urban data is updated yearly, averaging 59,066,957.500 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 68,740,419.000 Person in 2011 and a record low of 49,393,496.000 Person in 2001. India Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: Urban data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Census of India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE001: Census: Population: by Religion.

This table contains 21 series, with data for years 1871 - 1971 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Unit of measure (1 items: Persons ...) Geography (1 items: Canada ...) Religious denominations (21 items: Total religious denominations; Baptist; Congregationalist; Anglican ...).

This Religion and State-Minorities (RASM) dataset is supplemental to the Religion and State Round 2 (RAS2) dataset. It codes the RAS religious discrimination variable using the minority as the unit of analysis (RAS2 uses a country as the unit of analysis and, is a general measure of all discrimination in the country). RASM codes religious discrimination by governments against all 566 minorities in 175 countries which make a minimum population cut off. Any religious minority which is at least 0.25 percent of the population or has a population of at least 500,000 (in countries with populations of 200 million or more) are included. The dataset also includes all Christian minorities in Muslim countries and all Muslim minorities in Christian countries for a total of 597 minorities. The data cover 1990 to 2008 with yearly codings.

These religious discrimination variables are designed to examine restrictions the government places on the practice of religion by minority religious groups. It is important to clarify two points. First, these variables focus on restrictions on minority religions. Restrictions that apply to all religions are not coded in this set of variables. This is because the act of restricting or regulating the religious practices of minorities is qualitatively different from restricting or regulating all religions. Second, this set of variables focuses only on restrictions of the practice of religion itself or on religious institutions and does not include other types of restrictions on religious minorities. The reasoning behind this is that there is much more likely to be a religious motivation for restrictions on the practice of religion than there is for political, economic, or cultural restrictions on a religious minority. These secular types of restrictions, while potentially motivated by religion, also can be due to other reasons. That political, economic, and cultural restrictions are often placed on ethnic minorities who share the same religion and the majority group in their state is proof of this.

This set of variables is essentially a list of specific types of religious restrictions which a government may place on some or all minority religions. These variables are identical to those included in the RAS2 dataset, save that one is not included because it focuses on foreign missionaries and this set of variables focuses on minorities living in the country. Each of the items in this category is coded on the following scale:

0. The activity is not restricted or the government does not engage in this practice.
1. The activity is restricted slightly or sporadically or the government engages in a mild form of this practice or a severe form sporadically.
2. The activity is significantly restricted or the government engages in this activity often and on a large scale.

A composite version combining the variables to create a measure of religious discrimination against minority religions which ranges from 0 to 48 also is included.

ARDA Note: This file was revised on October 6, 2017. At the PIs request, we removed the variable reporting on the minority's percentage of a country's population after finding inconsistencies with the reported values. For detailed data on religious demographics, see the "/data-archive?fid=RCSREG2" Target="_blank">Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Lakshadweep: Male data was reported at 286.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records a decrease from the previous number of 422.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Lakshadweep: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 354.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 422.000 Person in 03-01-2001 and a record low of 286.000 Person in 03-01-2011. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Lakshadweep: 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.

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 Global Religion Dataset: This dataset uses a religion-by-five-year unit. It aggregates the number of adherents of a given religion and religious group globally by five-year periods.

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."

Table showing the numbers and percentage of resident population (all ages) broken down into six faiths, plus no religion and any other religion. Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey (ONS).

The data covers: Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, any other religion and no religion at all.

95% Confidence Intervals are shown.

Or alternatively, faith data from the 2011 Census is able to show numbers for each of the main religions.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Madhya Pradesh: Female data was reported at 107,985.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 85,025.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Madhya Pradesh: Female data is updated decadal, averaging 96,505.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 107,985.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 85,025.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: Madhya Pradesh: Female 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, **** percent of Americans were unaffiliated with any religion. A further **** percent of Americans were White evangelical Protestants, and an additional **** percent were White mainline Protestants. Religious trends in the United States Although the United States is still home to the largest number of Christians worldwide, the nation has started to reflect a more diverse religious landscape in recent years. Americans now report a wide range of religious beliefs and backgrounds, in addition to an increasing number of people who are choosing to identify with no religion at all. Studies suggest that many Americans have left their previous religion to instead identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular, with many reasoning that they stopped believing in the religion's teachings, that they didn't approve of negative teachings or treatment of LGBTQ+ people, or that their family was never that religious growing up. Christian controversies Over the last few years, controversies linked to Christian denominations have plagued the nation, including reports of child sexual abuse by the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Southern Baptist Convention. Christian churches have also been accused of supporting discriminatory actions against LGBTQ+ people and people belonging to other religious groups. In addition, there have been increasing concerns about Christian nationalism, the political ideology that asserts that America was founded to be a Christian nation. Although the majority of Americans still think that declaring the United States a Christian nation would go against the U.S. Constitution, studies found that most Republicans would be in favor of this change.

Data on religion by gender and age for the population in private households in Canada, provinces and territories.

Population: Religion: Female: Taoism data was reported at 165.600 Person th in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 172.222 Person th for 2010. Population: Religion: Female: Taoism data is updated yearly, averaging 165.600 Person th from Jun 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 172.222 Person th in 2010 and a record low of 105.267 Person th in 2000. Population: Religion: Female: Taoism data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Singapore – Table SG.G002: Population by Religion .

The 2000 constitution of Cote d’Ivoire provides for religious freedom for all citizens. Approximately 40 percent of the population is Christian, another 40 percent is Muslim, and an estimated 25 percent of the population practice indigenous beliefs. Traditionally, the north has been associated with Islam and the south with Christianity. Throughout rural areas and central Cote d’Ivoire you will find people practicing indigenous beliefs. Many nominal Christian and Muslim practitioners practice a hybrid of Christian and indigenous or Muslim and indigenous beliefs. Nearly all Christians and Muslims belong to ethnic groups that believe in animism, fetishism, and witchcraft. Christian groups include Roman Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Methodists, Assemblies of God, and Southern Baptists. The Evangelical Protestant Church of Cote d’Ivoire has over 1500 organized churches in its membership. The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro is a Roman Catholic basilica built in the late 1980s by then-President Felix Houphouet-Boigny. It is considered the largest church in the world. The USD 300 million price tag contributed to a significant portion to the total national debt of Cote d’Ivoire. Historically, Christian religions have been slightly favored by the government with the Catholic Church being the favorite. While Christian schools received subsidies from the Ministry of Education for decades, Muslim schools were only considered official schools and given similar subsidies beginning in 1994. Accusations of discrimination against Islamic and traditional religious communities concerned employment, national identity card renewals, and the aforementioned religious school subsidies. This resulted in government resentment from both indigenous and Muslim populations. A 1999 coup led political leaders to stir up religious divisions between the north and south. Alassane Ouattara, a Muslim northerner was banned from the 2000 election. This led to a 2002 troop mutiny and rebellion by discontent northern Muslims. Religious tensions escalated in 2010 with the presidential election results. Alassane Ouattara was elected president and incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo rejected the results and refused to step down. Ouattara is a northern Muslim, Gbagbo a southern Christian. The ensuing violence, destruction of property, and massive displacement of people divided Cote d’Ivoire into two regions, north and south. The underlying ethnic, religious, and national fragmentation of Cote d’Ivoire contributed greatly to this division. Only minor reports of discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice have occurred in 2012. ISO3 - International Organization for Standardization 3-digit country code ADM0_NAME - Administration level zero name NAME - Name of religious institution TYPE - Type of religious instituion CITY - City location of religious institution SPA_ACC - Spatial accuracy of site location 1- high, 2 – medium, 3 - low SOURCE_DT - Primary source creation date SOURCE - Primary source SOURCE2_DT - Secondary source creation date SOURCE2 - Secondary source

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, and 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 #9 (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.

This dataset shows the Worker Population Ratio (WPR), in percentage terms, for major religions, based on usual status (ps+ss). For years before 2017-18, the data was obtained in different quinquennial rounds of NSSO conducted from 2004-05 (NSS 61st) to 2011-12 (NSS 68th round). From 2017-18 the data is sourced from the annual report of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The data highlights the proportion of the working population within major religious communities.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the Faith population distribution across 18 age groups. It lists the population in each age group along with the percentage population relative of the total population for Faith. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population distribution of Faith by age. For example, using this dataset, we can identify the largest age group in Faith.

Key observations

The largest age group in Faith, SD was for the group of age 60 to 64 years years with a population of 44 (13.46%), according to the ACS 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates. At the same time, the smallest age group in Faith, SD was the Under 5 years years with a population of 0 (0%). Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates

Age groups:

• Under 5 years
• 5 to 9 years
• 10 to 14 years
• 15 to 19 years
• 20 to 24 years
• 25 to 29 years
• 30 to 34 years
• 35 to 39 years
• 40 to 44 years
• 45 to 49 years
• 50 to 54 years
• 55 to 59 years
• 60 to 64 years
• 65 to 69 years
• 70 to 74 years
• 75 to 79 years
• 80 to 84 years
• 85 years and over

Variables / Data Columns

• Age Group: This column displays the age group in consideration
• Population: The population for the specific age group in the Faith is shown in this column.
• % of Total Population: This column displays the population of each age group as a proportion of Faith total population. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Faith Population by Age. You can refer the same here