Muslim Population saw sharp rise in these Countries during…, Hindu population…, the countries are….

Population dynamics are an important factor that shapes social, cultural, and political conditions. Whether changes in the number and size of religious groups are involved, they can have significant implications on society and policy in a country. From 2010-2020, the changes to Europe’s religious population have not only been statistically significant, but some have become politically and socially relevant.

Jewish population from 2010 to 2020

According to a report from the Pew Research Center, ‘Religion in Europe’ demonstrates that, during the last ten years, the total Christian population fell almost 8.8% to 505 million. The Jewish population experienced a decline of 8% to 1.3 million. Conversely, nearly all other major demographic groups increased in population. People with no religious affiliation climbed to 190 million from 130 million, growing to 37% of the population.

Muslim Population saw sharp rise in these Countries during…

Surprisingly, the total Muslim population increased to 45510000 from 39280000, a jump of 15.9%.  In other words, Muslims increased to 46 million (up 16%). Europe’s relatively small Hindu population also grew substantially, rising to 2 million (up 30%).

The percentage shares of religious groups in Europe’s total population underwent significant transitions between 2010 and 2020. The most significant change came from religious disaffiliation.

Christian population share declines

There was a decline in the Christian population share to 67% which is a decrease of eight points, whilst the religiously unaffiliated population share increased to 25%, a rise of seven points. Comparatively, the share of every other major religious group changed by less than one percentage point in the same ten-year period.

It was during this time frame that large-scale immigration occurred from Muslim-majority societies, and public debate was underway about many aspects of immigration, with particular emphasis on the refugee influx from conflict areas such as Syria.

Overall share of Muslims in Europe increased by…

From 2010 to 2020, refugee immigration from Muslim-majority nations like Syria became a leading topic of public debate in Europe. The overall share of Muslims in Europe increased by approximately 1%, and for that reason, Muslims now make up approximately 6% of the overall population.

Sweden is where we have seen the largest increase, as the Muslim population doubled, increasing from 4% to 8%. In Albania, which already had a Muslim majority, the share of Muslims increased further by 4%, and finally in Germany, the Muslim share increased by one percent, and now stands at 7%.

This increase, in turn, not only includes immigration but also refugee-friendly immigration approaches taken by select countries: some countries, Sweden, for example, has had a larger share of Muslims due to their more liberal immigration approach, as seen in Angela Merkel’s approach in Germany.

“The Muslim share was more stable in other European countries. For example, in Germany, where then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming stance toward Muslim refugees in 2015 was highly controversial, Muslims grew by about 1 percentage point as a share of the country’s population, making up 7% of the country’s residents in 2020,” reads the Pew Research Center, ‘Religion in Europe’ report.

Of all the regions, Europe had the largest share of countries (23) to see a significant (5 percentage points or higher) change in at least one religious population group. Each of these changes was represented by a declining percentage of Christians. In most of these countries (20) the percentage increased for people that identified as non-religious by at least 5 percentage points.

The biggest change in terms of raw percentage point change was among Christians in the United Kingdom, where Christians decreased to slightly under half of the UK’s population (13 points down). And the religiously unaffiliated grew serviceable to 40% of the UK population (11 points up). There was an even slightly larger change among the religiously unaffiliated in Estonia, where they grew to 44% of the country’s population (12 points up).

“In Europe, two countries – France and the UK – had Christian majorities in 2010 and no longer do. Meanwhile, the Netherlands became the second unaffiliated-majority country in Europe, joining the Czech Republic. Aside from Christians and unaffiliated people, no religious group saw its share in any European country change by 5 percentage points or more between 2010 and 2020,” the report added.