There has been a decline in the global share of Christians across the world. This information has come to light in the new report of the recently released Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project. According to the report, Christianity is still the largest religion in the world, but its percentage share in the total population is decreasing. This study is based on data from more than 2,700 censuses and surveys in 201 countries and territories.
According to the report, by 2020, about 2.3 billion people in the world i.e. 28.8 percent of the global population considered themselves Christians. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of Christians increased from 2.1 billion to 2.3 billion, that is, an increase of about 6 percent was recorded. However, during this period the global population and the number of non-Christians increased by 15 percent. Due to this, the global share of Christians decreased from 31 percent to 28.8 percent.
Declining birth rate and religious conversion are the main reasons
It has been said in the report that there are two main reasons behind the decline in the share of Christian population. Firstly, the declining birth rate in many areas is responsible; secondly, the tendency to change religion or separate oneself from any religion after reaching adulthood is responsible. According to statistics, in recent years, for every one new Christian, 3.1 people have left Christianity. Most of these people did not adopt any other religion, but declared themselves separate from any religion.
Africa became the center away from Europe and America
The center of Christianity is changing geographically. The number of Christians in Europe has decreased to about 50 crores, which shows a decrease of about 9 percent. In North America also this number has come down to about 23 crores. On the contrary, the number of Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased by 31 percent to about 69 crores. According to 2020 data, 31 percent Christians were living in Africa, 22 percent in Europe, 24 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean and 10 percent in North America. The report also states that a major change of at least 5 percentage points was recorded in 41 countries, in which the Christian population has decreased in most of the places.
Global share of other religions
According to the religious report of 2020, the global share of other religions is as follows.
28.8 percent population is Christian
25.6 percent Muslims
14.9 percent Hindu
4.1 percent Buddhist
24.2 percent people do not consider themselves associated with any religion. Such people are called atheists.
Thus, 75.8 percent of the global population is affiliated with some religion, while about a quarter describe themselves as atheist or religiously unaffiliated. The report indicates that a major geographical and social shift is taking place in the global religious landscape, with the center of Christianity rapidly shifting towards Africa.
