World Population of World Religions

World Population in World Religions

The brackets {   } represent + or - percentage changes of the population since 1900

Christians                                                                                   33%   {-1.5%}

               Roman Catholics                                                                     15.8%    {+1%}

Independents                                                                            5.7%  {+5.2%}

              Seen as "New" Protestants, rooted in various countries with

              Independent Apostolic, Pentecostal, and Charismatic traditions.

               Protestants                                                                                 5%    {-1.2%}

                       Adventists, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.

               Orthodox                                                                                  3.2%   {-3.5%}

                        Armenian, Bulgarian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Greek, Russian,

                        Ukrainian, Serbian, etc.

               Anglicans                                                                                 1.1%   {-0.6%}

               Marginal Christians                                                                   0.4% {+0.3%}

                        Primarily Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter-day Saints

               Unaffiliated Christians                                                              1.8%   {-0.5%}

The Roman Catholic Christian Religion started as the State Religion of Rome with Constaintine the Great [c.288-337]. This spread through Western Europe. During the Age of Imperialism, the Europeans converted much of Latin America. Note, the Christian Religion was often forced upon the conquered people. Indigenous texts and worship were primarily eradicated. Still, many indigenous people adapt their traditional spirituality into the structure of the Christianity.

Martin Luther [1483-1546] started the German Reformation, leading to the non-Catholic "Protestant" denominations. Currently, many Christians are drifting toward independent Christian movements. Charismatic leaders motivate and unify the hearts and minds of participants for an out-flowing of the Spirit.

Those Christians with additional scripture and differing views of Jesus and the Trinity are considered "marginal" Christians in this analysis of World Religions. The two primary groups of marginal Christians are Jehovah's Witnesses and Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Both operate major missionary programs. The Orthodox churches have lost the most from the Communist takeover in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Christian churches have dynamic growth in the African continent. According to the records, growth has exceeded 36% of the population during the last hundred years. Africa contains the least developed nations of the world. The Gross National Product (GNP), eessential income per person in Mozambique is about $80 a year. This nation of more than 19 million people is considered the poorest in the world. The nearly 60 million inhabitants of Ethiopia have a GNP of a $100 per year.*  It appears Africans are responding to the Christian message of liberation from poverty. The New Testament states, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5)   Africans also respond positively to Christian charity established in schools, hospitals and other programs. As happened in the Christian takeover of Latin America, traditional African beliefs are being integrated into Christian Religion and practices.

In many of the most wealthy, literate nations of Europe and North America, Christianity has declined over the last hundred years as a percentage of the population, declining 17% and 12% respectively. Even with a decline of the religion, Christianity is by far the largest percentage of the population in Europe and North America.

Muslim                                                                                      19.6%  {+7.3%}

                Sunnis                                                                                      16.6%

                Shias                                                                                         2.8%

                Other Schools                                                                            0.2%

The World Religion of Islam is 19.6% or about 1.3 billion of the world population. [Islam means "Submission," and Muslim as "One who Submits".]  Muslims consist of the 2nd largest World Religion and growing over 7% in the last hundred years. Some records are difficult to ascertain, and might be exaggerated where entire state populations are quoted as Muslim. Nevertheless, the growth of Islam has occurred throughout all of the continents. Countries composed primarily of Muslims can appear strict and restrictive to Westerners. Due to some extremists within the Islam faith, the majority of Muslims might be misunderstood.

Hindus                                                                                         13.4%   {+0.9%}

               Vaishnavites [Worshippers of Vishnu]                                                9%

               Shaivites [Worshippers of Shiva]                                                        4%

               Neo and Reform Hindus                                                                0.4%

India is a country of a billion inhabitants. Compared to the population growth, Hinduism is actually decreasing. More people in India choose to be Christians, non-religious, Buddhists or followers of another religion like Sikhs.

Buddhists                                                                      5.9%    {-1.9%}

               Mahayana                                                                    3.3%

               Theravada                                                                    2.2%

               Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhism)                                        0.4%

New or Neo-Religionists                                                           1.7%  {+1.3%}

                                Syncretistic mass movements, Asian New Religions etc.                                   

Jews                                                                                          0.2%  {-0.6%}

Other                                                                                         11%

          Includes Sikhs 0.4%, Baha'is 0.1%,

          Ethnoreligionists-Animists 3.8% {-3.5%}

                                Chinese folk religionists 6.4% {-17%}

                                Spiritists .2%, and others 0.1%         

Though about 13 million Jews form but 0.2 % of the World Religious population, many people consider Judaism a major world religion. The two largest world religions of Christianity and Islam clearly stem from Judaism. All three are called "Abrahamic" traditions. Out of the 0.2% called Jews, a percentage of these are considered Jews simply because they claim a Jewish heritage. A proportion of so-called "Jews" reject religion outright. Some say that a group of Jews are converts and non-semetic in origin. These claims primarily stem from Judah Halevi [c. 1075-1141], a Jewish poet and philosopher writing Sefer ha-Kuzari [also translated into English as "The Book of the Kuzari."] Judah Halevi writes that a King of the Khazars of Southern Russia and his people converted to Judaism around 740 AD, with more conversions again in the 10th Century. 

The "Other" category includes Chinese Folk religionists. This group combines various elements of Confucianism, with ancestor veneration, local Taoist deities, and Buddhist elements. The Communist takeover in China in 1949 eradicated most of these varying practices. Communism accounted for the single largest decrease of any religion.

Sikhs and Baha'is are primarily derived from Islam. The founding Guru or teacher of Sikhs [born in 1469 AD] tried to reconcile the Hindu-Islam conflict in India. They believe in one God and the Guru as the essential guide. The Baha'i faith evolved from the Iranian Shi'ite practice of Islam. This World Religion was founded in the 1860s and believes in the monotheistic God of Islam, yet accords power to manifestations of God with Abraham, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and of course the founder of the Baha'is, Baha'u'llah.