Headlines
By 2050, Hindus' share of India's population to fall by 2.8 percent: Study
By
Arul LouisPhoenix (Arizona), April 3
Hindus in India are
projected to grow to almost 1.3 billion by 2050 in a total population
of nearly 1.7 billion even though their percentage in the nation's
population is expected to decline by 2.8 percent -- from 79.5 percent in
2010 to 76.7 percent in 2050, according to a report by the Pew Research
Center (PRC).
India's Hindu population, which was 973.75 million
in 2010, is expected to grow by 324.21 million to 1,297.96 million --
or 1.298 billion -- in 2050, the report released on Thursday said.
PRC
projected the share of Muslims in India's total population to grow by 4
percent from 14.4 percent in 2010 to 18.4 percent in 2050 as their
numbers increase from 176.2 million to 310.66 million -- an increase of
134.46 million during the 40 years.
This will also make India's
Muslim population the largest of any country by 2050, outstripping
Indonesia's 256.82 million Muslims and Pakistan's 273.11 million
The
share of Christians in India's total population during the period is
projected by PRC to decrease by 0.3 percent, from 2.5 percent in 2010 to
2.2 percent in 2050. The number of Christians is likely to increase by
5.61 million, from 31.13 million in 2010 to 36.74 million in 2050.
The
Washington-based research organisation, which studies population trends
and public opinion around the world, expected a dramatic rise in the
percentage of the Hindu population in the US, from 0.6 percent in 2010
to 1.2 percent in 2050. As for numbers, the US Hindu population is
projected to grow from 1.79 million in 2010 to 4.78 million in 2050.
This will make the US Hindu population the fifth largest in the world.
PRC's
report, “The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections,
2010-2050,†said that globally the Hindu population was expected to
increase from 1 billion in 2010 to 1.4 billion by 2050, making it the
third largest group after the Christians and Muslims.
According
to the report, the “unaffiliated†-- a grouping that includes agnostics,
atheists and those with no formal religious identification -- which
formed the third largest group in 2010 was expected to decline from
1.131 billion in 2010 to 1.23 billion by 2050, allowing Hindus to move
up to the third spot.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Hindus
constituted the largest religion in 2010, numbering 1.024 billion. But
by 2050, PRC said, Hinduism is to have 1.369 billion adherents in the
region while Islam's followers are expected to grow from 986.42 million
in 2010 to 1.45772 billion in 2050.
The PRC based the projections
on several factors, including fertility and age distribution of the
different religious groups in various regions.
“The annual growth
rate of Hindus is expected to remain roughly on par with world
population growth through 2030-2035, after which it is projected to drop
below the worldwide level,†PRC said. “By 2045, Hindus are expected to
be growing by about 0.2 percent annually, or roughly half as fast as the
global population overall, largely as a result of declining fertility
rates in India.â€
Globally, Islam is projected by PRC to be the
fastest growing religion, increasing from 1.599 billion in 2010 to 2.761
billion in 2050, almost catching up with Christianity's 2.198 billion.
Christians'
share of the world population is expected to hold steady at 31.4
percent during the 40-year period, while Muslim's share is expected to
increase from 23.2 percent in 2010 to 29.7 percent by 2050, the report
said.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at [email protected])