The European daily newspaper “Telegrafi” published a special report, enriched with charts, that mapped the distribution of countries with the largest Muslim populations and their ratio to Christians worldwide.
The newspaper, in a report viewed by the Shia Waves Agency, stated that “more than two-thirds of the world’s Muslims, specifically 65%, live in the ten countries with the largest Muslim populations. In contrast, only 48% of the world’s Christians reside in the ten countries with the largest Christian populations. In other words, more than half of the world’s Christians, or 52%, live in countries outside the top ten countries with the largest Christian populations.”
The report explained that “India, which has the second-largest Muslim population in the world with approximately 195 million people, sees Islam as a small religious minority (less than 15% of the population) compared to Hinduism, which is the majority religion. Meanwhile, Nigeria, which has the sixth-largest Christian population in the world, with about 87 million people, also has the fifth-largest Muslim population in the world, with more than 90 million Muslims.”
Regarding the Arab region, Telegrafi indicated that “Egypt ranks first in the region and sixth globally in terms of its Muslim citizens, with around 84 million Muslims, representing 95% of the population. Iraq follows, ranking tenth globally with more than 42 million Muslim Iraqis, accounting for 99% of the country’s total population.”
As for the population growth rates of the two largest religions in the world, the report noted that there are currently 2.3 billion Christians compared to 1.8 billion Muslims. However, the gap is expected to narrow by 2060, with both religions reaching approximately 3 billion followers. The report attributes this to the fact that Muslims, on average, are younger and tend to have more children than Christians.
In a related context, specialized sources predict other changes in the proportions of the two religions by 2060. India is expected to surpass Indonesia as the country with the largest Muslim population, while the Muslim community in India will remain a minority, not exceeding 19% of the predominantly Hindu country.
