India set to become country with largest Muslim population by 2050: report

Delhi: The Muslim population in India is expected to surpass 300 million by 2050, which will make it the country with most Muslims in the world, according to the findings of Pew Research Center.

A majority of Muslims worldwide (62%) live in the Asia-Pacific region, with large populations in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey. Currently, Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population.

The report also notes that Islam is the world’s second-largest religion after Christianity and also the fastest growing religion. Should the demographic trend continue, the number of Muslims is expected to exceed the number of Christians, by the end of this century.

Demographic projections estimate that Muslims will make up 2.1% of the US population by the year 2050. This will surpass the number of people who identify as Jews (Judaism currently being the second largest religion in the US) but not those without a religion.

"There are two major factors behind the rapid projected growth of Islam, and both involve simple demographics. For one, Muslims have more children than members of other religious groups. Around the world, each Muslim woman has an average of 3.1 children, compared with 2.3 for all other groups combined", the report said.

"Muslims are also the youngest (median age of 23 years old in 2010) of all major religious groups, seven years younger than the median age of non-Muslims. As a result, a larger share of Muslims already are, or will soon be, at the point in their lives when they begin having children. This, combined with high fertility rates, will fuel Muslim population growth", it added.