A new study from the Pew Research Center provides a global snapshot of religious change between 2010 and 2020, showing Muslims as the fastest-growing faith group, followed by people with no religious affiliation. The standout findings:
- The world's Muslim population rose by 347 million over the decade—that's "more than all the other religions combined," notes NPR—largely due to higher birth rates, especially in the Middle East-North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, and in the Asia-Pacific region. It's the second largest religious group globally, accounting for 25.6% of the population.
- Senior Pew demographer Conrad Hackett emphasizes the driving factor: "Muslims are having children at a greater number than Muslims are dying. Very little of the change in Muslim population size is a result of people becoming Muslim as adults or leaving Islam as adults."