Population of the Abrahamic Religions 2010 to 2050

Population of the Abrahamic Religions 2010 to 2050

Arfad A. Razak

This short article aims to provide an overview of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim population around the world.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam made up the three Abrahamic religions with a following that equates to half of the world's population today. Majority amongst these groups are Christians (31.5%) and Muslims (23.2%) with only around 16 million professing the Jewish (0.2%) faith. The rest of the world’s population are Hindus (15%), Buddhist (7.1%), Taoist, Jains, Zoroastrians, atheists, and others (PEW, The Global Religious Landscape). Also, according to PEW and the World Population Review, there are over 2 billion Christians (PEW, Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population) and Muslims each (World Population Review), and Islam is the fastest growing religion today, with a projection of 2.2 billion by 2030, 2.5 billion by 2040, and 2.8 billion by 2050 (PEW, Muslim). The population growth of Judaism and Christianity has been in the decline since the past century.

In another PEW research, the article mentions that the number of people professing Christianity has rapidly decline in the United States over the years. In 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults described themselves as Christians. This is a 10% decrease from the previous decade (PEW, In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace). The situation in the United Kingdom is not any better. In a guardian article “Why is the Christian Population of England and Wales Declining?” dated 29 November 2022, “England and Wales are now minority Christian country for the first time…” (Guardian). Judaism, on the other hand, are also undergoing population decline, though not at a rapid rate compared to Christianity. The Jewish population in 1939 was around 9.5 million in Europe. In 2010, there were only 1.4 million Jews there though we have to bear in mind that over 6 million Jews were victims of the holocaust from 1933 to 1945, and that majority now resides in Israel (6-7 million) and the United States (5.8 million) (PEW, The size of the U.S. Jewish population). Statistically, out of the overall population in Israel in 2016, 81% were Jews. The breakdown can be given as follows: 40% were secular Jews (Hiloni), 23% were Traditional (Masorti), 8% were Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi), 10% were simply just religious or modern orthodox (Dati) with the rest being Muslims, Christians, and others (PEW, Israel’s Religiously Divided Society).

Just like majority of the religions in the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are not monolithic. This means that there are many denominations within the religion itself. These denominations differ from one another in terms of practices and certain tenets of faith or beliefs. Most of these denominations do not differ in their creed. For example, there are different branches of Judaism such as the Orthodox and non-Orthodox. The Haredi Jews, despite making up just 8% of the Jewish population in Israel, revere the teachings of the Torah to the very letter. This is in stark contrast to the Hiloni Jews, who are not religious and has adopted a secular lifestyle. The Hiloni Jews do not practice their religion as rigorously as even their Dati and Masorti brothers.

The Christians are divided into three major camps: the Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox (Syrian and Greek Orthodox, not to mention the Russian Orthodox church). Catholics make up half of the world’s Christian population. In a 2013 article published by PEW titled "The Global Catholic Population," as of 2010, the number of Catholics are 1.1 billion. However, back in 1910, the number of Catholics were merely 291 million. Within a century, the number of Christians following the Catholic denomination has increased around 450%. The data from PEW also indicates that in 1910, Catholics made up 17% of the world's population, with over 48% of Christians were Catholics. Today, the number has increased by 2%, with over 50% of Christians adopting Catholicism as to Protestantism.

The major difference between Catholicism and Protestantism is that Catholics pray and revere the Saints while Protestant do not (this could be an understatement as some protestants do revere the Saints, however, though they do not pray to them as an intermediary as both the Catholics and Orthodox do). Protestants, on the other hand, make up 36.7% of the world’s Christian as of 2011 while 11.9% were Orthodox (PEW, Global Christianity – A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population). Protestantism traced their beginnings to the period of Martin Luther (1483-1546) and John Calvin (1509-1564). Luther’s famous 95 thesis against the Catholic church were meant to educate the masses regarding the problems of indulgences. Luther did not believe that one can partially or fully remit their sins through the buying of indulgences. The Catholic church in the Middle Ages had allowed Christians to atone for their sins and for the sins of their dead family members through the buying of indulgences. Indulgences are like a remittance of sin to reduce the amount of time one spent in the purgatory after death. Indulgences are not something of the past, they are also part of the Catholic doctrine today (Vatican).

The Muslims, like the Protestants, oppose the idea that one’s sin can be remitted through the buying of indulgences Though Sunni Muslims believe that sins can be remitted in a variety of ways. For example, when one had committed a sin, they have to immediately repent to God, and God will forgive them. This is repentance for the forgiveness of sin. There are also certain conditions that needs to be fulfilled for sins that are committed at a certain time and place or event. For example, it is compulsory for a Muslim who undertake pilgrimage to Mecca to be in a state of ablution before circumambulating the Ka’ba. Suppose he or she had forgotten to make ablution, a penalty such as feeding the poor is necessary to remit this sin under normal circumstances. With that being said, majority of Muslims are Sunnis (with over 87-90% (PEW, Pew Research Center), a small number are Shias, Sufis, and Ismailis. Majority of the world’s Shia population are located in Iran (37-40%), Iraq (11-12%), and India (9-14%). Ismailis make up the smallest strands of the major denominations in Islam, though there is a strong consensus among Muslims that Ismailis should not be considered Muslims due to their prayer style (which is not in accordance with the teachings of the prophet Muhammad).

In conclusion, by 2050, the world’s population is expected to be 9.3 billion. It has also been tabulated that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and its number of followers have been projected to surpass 2.7 billion in the next 25 years. This means that by the middle of the 21^st century, over a third of the world’s population will be Muslims. Judaism, on the other hand has been projected to maintain its population by steady growth. By 2050, the number of Jews in Israel has been projected to be 8.1 million, this will be a grow of 2.5 million, while the United States will see their Jewish population decline by three hundred and thirty thousand. In terms of sheer size, Jews are expected to grow around 20% in the next 25 years. On the flipside, the number of Christians around the world is projected to be around 2.9 billion. This means that the number of Christians will continue to be larger than the Muslims in the next 25 years. Despite this, the growth rate of Christianity is not as rapid as Islam and by 2050, the number of Muslims would have increased by 73% from 2010 (from 1.6 to 2.7 billion) (PEW, The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050).

 

 

Works Cited

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—. Pew Research Center. 27 January, 2011. Digital. 6 October, 2024.

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—. The Global Religious Landscape. 18 December, 2012. Digital. 6 October, 2024.

—. The size of the U.S. Jewish population. 11 May, 2021. Digital. 6 October, 2024.

Vatican. APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION - INDULGENTIARUM DOCTRINA. 1967. Digital. 6 October, 2024.

World Population Review. 2024. Digital. October, 2024.