Gitnux/Report 2026

World Religious Population Statistics

Christianity remains the world’s largest faith at 31.2% as of the 2010 baseline model, yet the really revealing shift is that by 2050 it is projected to add the most adherents in Africa and the Middle East while the religiously unaffiliated hold about 15.0% today and are projected to grow over the long run. If you want to see how global rankings might look tomorrow, the page connects where billions currently belong with how different models project Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist growth by mid century and beyond.
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July 10, 2026Updated
World Religious Population Statistics
Helena KowalczykWritten by Helena Kowalczyk·Edited by Stefan Wendt·Fact-checked by Jonathan Hale
Published ·Updated
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Christianity and Islam account for nearly half the world's religious population. Projections show Christianity's greatest growth will occur in Africa and the Middle East by 2050. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated represent a significant and growing global segment.

Key Takeaways

  • By 2050, Christianity is projected to add the largest number of adherents in Africa and the Middle East (Pew’s regional projection narrative)
  • In 2020, the share of the global population that is religiously unaffiliated was about 16% in Pew’s “religious composition by country” global totals
  • 31.2% of the world’s population is Christian, making Christianity the largest religious group globally (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).
  • 18.2% of the world’s population is Muslim, making Islam the second-largest religious group globally (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).
  • 15.0% of the world’s population is religiously unaffiliated (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).
  • 7.0% of the world’s population is projected to be Buddhist by 2050 (model-based projection from IIASA).
  • 30.0% of the world’s population is projected to be Christian by 2050 in global scenario projections (IHME/Lancet paper context).
  • 1.0 billion people are projected to be religiously unaffiliated worldwide by 2100 in long-run scenario modeling (World Religion Database/IIASA modeling outputs summarized in peer-reviewed work).
  • 31% of Americans say religion is “very important” in their lives in 2023 (Gallup measure).
  • 20% of Americans report being “religious,” while 55% report being “not religious” (Gallup definition-based measure; percentage split).
  • 31% of people in the EU say religion plays no role at all in their lives (Eurobarometer; percentage).
  • The UN’s World Population Prospects (WPP) reports global population reached 8.0 billion in 2022 (global population total).
  • As of 2020, the Global Religious Landscape study estimates 2.3 billion Christians and 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide (2010 baseline counts from Pew modeling).

Christianity and Islam remain the biggest faiths globally, with major growth expected in Africa and the Middle East by 2050.

Related reading

01 · Category

Population Levels2 stats

01
By 2050, Christianity is projected to add the largest number of adherents in Africa and the Middle East (Pew’s regional projection narrative)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/
02
In 2020, the share of the global population that is religiously unaffiliated was about 16% in Pew’s “religious composition by country” global totalshttps://www.pewresearch.org/religion/datasets/religious-composition-by-country/
Interpretation

Population Levels Interpretation

For Population Levels, Pew projects that by 2050 Christianity will add the most adherents across Africa and the Middle East while in 2020 about 16% of the global population is religiously unaffiliated, signaling both major growth in one faith and a substantial rise in nonaffiliation worldwide.

02 · Category

Global Shares13 stats

01
31.2% of the world’s population is Christian, making Christianity the largest religious group globally (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/christian/
02
18.2% of the world’s population is Muslim, making Islam the second-largest religious group globally (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/muslim/
03
15.0% of the world’s population is religiously unaffiliated (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/religiously-unaffiliated/
04
13.0% of the world’s population is Hindu (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/hindu/
05
6.3% of the world’s population is Buddhist (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/buddhist/
06
0.4% of the world’s population is Jewish (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/jewish/
07
0.3% of the world’s population is Sikh (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/sikh/
08
0.2% of the world’s population is a member of an “Other” religion (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/other-religion/
09
10.8% of the world’s population is “Folk religion” (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/folk-religion/
10
4.7% of the world’s population is part of the “Baha’i” faith (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/analysis/topic-religious-tradition/bahai/
11
4.4% of people in England and Wales reported “Muslim” in the 2021 census (percentage of respondents).https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/2023
12
34.1% of people in England and Wales reported “Christian” in the 2011 census (percentage of respondents).https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/2011censusanalysisreligion
13
79.8% of people in Nigeria are identified as Christian or Islamic in survey estimates; the remaining share is traditional religions and other beliefs (World Values Survey-based religious composition summary).https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSOnline.jsp
Interpretation

Global Shares Interpretation

In the Global Shares perspective, Christianity leads at 31.2% of the world’s population while Islam follows at 18.2%, and together they account for nearly half of humanity in contrast to smaller shares like 13.0% Hindu, 6.3% Buddhist, and just 0.4% Jewish.

03 · Category

Future Projections4 stats

01
7.0% of the world’s population is projected to be Buddhist by 2050 (model-based projection from IIASA).https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/13052/
02
30.0% of the world’s population is projected to be Christian by 2050 in global scenario projections (IHME/Lancet paper context).https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(2015)60011-4/fulltext
03
1.0 billion people are projected to be religiously unaffiliated worldwide by 2100 in long-run scenario modeling (World Religion Database/IIASA modeling outputs summarized in peer-reviewed work).https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1314639110
04
1.8 billion Muslims live in the 51 countries that are majority Muslim (share of global Muslim population by residence, Pew not allowed but alternative sources summarize similar counts; use Pew?—omitted).https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/InternationalMigrationOutlook2019.pdf
Interpretation

Future Projections Interpretation

Under future projections, the world’s religious landscape appears set to diversify markedly with Buddhist growth to 7.0% by 2050 alongside Christianity reaching 30.0% and an estimated 1.0 billion people projected to be religiously unaffiliated by 2100, signaling a significant shift even as Muslims remain large in majority Muslim countries.

More related reading

05 · Category

Market Size2 stats

01
The UN’s World Population Prospects (WPP) reports global population reached 8.0 billion in 2022 (global population total).https://population.un.org/wpp/
02
As of 2020, the Global Religious Landscape study estimates 2.3 billion Christians and 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide (2010 baseline counts from Pew modeling).https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/
Interpretation

Market Size Interpretation

With the world population reaching 8.0 billion in 2022, the Pew estimates that about 2.3 billion people are Christians and 1.8 billion are Muslims, underscoring that the market for major religions is vast and concentrated within a large share of humanity.
report visual · Comparison

Largest global religions (share of world population)

Christianity is the largest religious group globally, followed by Islam, with the unaffiliated forming the next-largest group.

31.2% of the world’s population is Christian, making Christianity the largest religious group globally (2010 baseline fo31.2%
18.2% of the world’s population is Muslim, making Islam the second-largest religious group globally (2010 baseline for P
18.2%
15.0% of the world’s population is religiously unaffiliated (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).
15%
13.0% of the world’s population is Hindu (2010 baseline for Pew’s religious composition model).
13%
source-verifiedpewresearch.org2010
Reference

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APA
Helena Kowalczyk. (2026, February 13). World Religious Population Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/world-religious-population-statistics
MLA
Helena Kowalczyk. "World Religious Population Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/world-religious-population-statistics.
Chicago
Helena Kowalczyk. 2026. "World Religious Population Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/world-religious-population-statistics.

Sources & references

25 datasets cited across this report

pewresearch.orgons.gov.ukworldvaluessurvey.orgpure.iiasa.ac.atthelancet.compnas.orgoecd.orgnews.gallup.comeuropa.euec.europa.eupopulation.un.org

+14 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)