01 March 2017

Islam 'to overtake Christianity as world's largest religion by 2070' as birth rates slide in Latin America

Islam will overtake Christianity as the world's largest religion in the next 60 years, according to researchers.

The faith is the only religion growing faster than the global population with more than a third of the world's people predicted to be Muslim by the end of the century, according to the US-based Pew Research Centre.

Christianity is currently by far the world's largest religion, with 2.2 million worshippers accounting for 31 per cent of all 6.9 billion people on Earth in 2010.

There were an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims at the same date. But if the current rate of demographic change remains the same Muslims will outnumber Christians by about 2070, researchers said.

Both religious groups are projected to continue to grow, with Islam predicted to account for 34.9 per cent of the world's population by 2100 and Christianity for 33.8 per cent. [Daily Mirror] Read more