Religion in india 2020. [3] India contains 94% of the global Hindu population.
Religion in india 2020. Jun 29, 2021 · The vast majority of Indians identify with six major religious groups: Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains. Religion Census is the most extensive count of congregations ever conducted. Refer to the 2025 report, methodology and interactive table for more detail. By 2050, India’s Muslim population will grow to 311 million, making it the largest Muslim population in the world, according to Pew Research Center projections. From 2010 to 2020, the number of Muslims increased by 347 million Jun 9, 2025 · To help explain the demographic dynamics that drove religious change between 2010 and 2020, we looked at religion-specific data on fertility rates and the age distribution of religious groups in each country, as well as mortality patterns for the overall population of each country. The most popular religion in India is Hinduism, and the second most popular religion is Islam. Jun 9, 2025 · Read how demographic factors – age composition, life expectancy and fertility rates – and religious switching changed the global religious landscape, according to Pew Research Center. India in 2020 reinvigorated a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (“Quad”) as a flagship initiative of the U. Population above 60 years is 7. 4 percent; Muslims, 14. He provides an account of the subcontinents principal religions, focusing on how they began, what they teach, what they have become, and how Feb 1, 2020 · The religious map of India is notoriously complex; not only are there indigenous traditions in great variety, but imported faiths such as Islam and Christianity have been added to the mix. [4] India has produced some notable atheist politicians and social reformers. In 2019, the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission under Justice Aditya Nath Mittal had compiled a report on unlawful religious conversion and proposed a draft Uttar Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019. What religion is and how it is measured has largely been conceptualized through the lens of these Abrahamic faiths. Despite this, Islam remains, on the global level, the second religion with the second largest number of net converts into the religion, with about 420,000 more people converting to Islam than leaving Islam between 2015 and 2020. Still, Indian Muslims are projected to remain a India projected population in 2025 is 140. Although interreligious Jun 10, 2025 · A recent Pew Research Center report reveals that while most major religious groups expanded between 2010 and 2020, Christianity's global share declined due to religious switching, despite a Aug 20, 2024 · Hindu devotees form a human pyramid during a festival in Mumbai The religious composition of Indians who emigrate differs significantly from those who stay in India, analysis by the US-based Pew Sep 21, 2021 · A new Pew Research Center report shows that India’s religious composition has been fairly stable since the 1947 partition that divided the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. The recently released report, “ How the Global Religious Landscape Changed from 2010 to 2020,” includes India, known for its immense cultural and religious diversity, shows a rich tapestry of religious affiliation across its states and territories. It includes the Hinduism is the largest and most practised religion in India. [5] Around 0. The National Crimes Record Bureau reported 378 instances of communal violence in 2021 (most recent data) compared to 857 in 2020. 4 billion (140 crore) people as of 2020. [4][5] The vast majority of Indian Hindus belong to Vaishnavite, Shaivite, and Shakta denominations. Nov 11, 2021 · Identifying and Regulating Religion in India: Law, History and the Place of Worship By Geetanjali Srikantan. There were also cases of communal violence between religious groups. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent government agency, classified India as a “country of particular concern”—its The current population of India is 1,475,208,681 as of Monday, September 22, 2025. U. The “colonial secularism” of the British officials in India essentially entailed, inter alia, that the colonial regime would not endorse Apr 4, 2014 · The US Commission on International Religious Freedom monitors/analyzes India’s harassment/violence against religious minorities, especially Muslims. The decision reflects increased religious hostility and sectarian conflict in India, which have been stoked further by the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed last December. Safikul Islam / Dr Mehebub Sahana According to World Population Prospects, 2019 revisions (World Population Review, 2021), China and India are the world's two most populous countries in 2021, with populations of approximately 144 crores and 139 crores respectively but the annual growth rate (2020-2021) of India (0. 0; Christians, 4. Figure 4. The data reveals how sharply Hindu supremacist violence against Muslims has increased under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a concern that Oct 5, 2023 · Despite India’s millennia-old history of nonreligious movements, most atheists and rationalists choose to keep quiet about their skepticism of faith – it’s easier and far less risky than going public in one of the world's most religious countries. Last month, the U. Traditionally, Hinduism and Buddhism (both originating in India) used to be regarded as peaceful religions. from publication: Impact of Culture and Religion on India's Food Phosphorus Footprint | Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for Apr 29, 2024 · Religious polarization and Hindu nationalism escalate tensions and violence ahead of India's 2024 elections. The small number of respondents who did not provide their childhood religion are included in the "Some other religion" category. 8. About this report Table of contents 1. The first chapter throws light on religious composition followed by chapters on representation of different religions in Globally, Christians remain the largest religion category in number, while Muslims and religiously unaffiliated people were the fastest-growing groups from 2010 to 2020. This study – the second in the Center’s series about religion in India – covers the six decades between 1951, when the first post-Partition census was conducted, and 2011 In a July virtual session hosted by the U. religion survey data This page lists data from larger surveys covering e level of religious tolerance. Read how the global share of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and the religiously unaffiliated changed, according to Pew Research Center. [3] India contains 94% of the global Hindu population. 7 million people in India did not state their . In May 27, 2020 · While the study of religion in political science has reemerged as a growing field of inquiry in the last few decades, most research still focuses on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 88. National Capital Delhi reported the highest number of rioting cases. If the Indus valley civilization (3rd–2nd millennium BCE) was the earliest source of Hindu traditions, then Hinduism is the oldest living religion on Earth. T. Oct 16, 2024 · Summary+ Violence against Muslims in India is an issue rooted in historical tensions and political ideologies. India Population Indicators Birth rate is 19 births/1000 people in 2016. In this report, respondents are often categorized accordingly, based on their answers to a question about their religious identity. Throughout India's history, religion has been an important part of the country's culture and the Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of four of the world's major religions, namely Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, which are collectively known as native Indian religions or Dharmic religions and Sep 21, 2021 · According to that projection, India was home to about 1. These laws often target Muslim and Chrisitan communities. INDIA 2020 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT Executive Summary The constitution provides for freedom of conscience and the right of all individuals to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion; mandates a secular state; requires the state to treat all religions impartially; and prohibits discrimination based on religion. Not only do most of the world’s Hindus, Jains and Sikhs live in India, but it also is home to one of the world’s largest Muslim populations and to millions of Christians and Buddhists. Pp. S. Death rate is 7. Religious leaders, academics, political figures, and activists made inflammatory public remarks about religious minorities. Aashish Gupta, Diane Coffey, Caste, Religion, and Mental Health in India, Population Research and Policy Review, Vol. Lawrence A. He provides an account of the subcontinent’s principal religions, focusing on how they began, what they teach, what they have become, and Jun 9, 2025 · Christians remain the largest religious group, and Muslims grew the fastest from 2010 to 2020. As of 2020, Pew Research Center estimates that Hindus have a median age of 29, compared with 24 for Muslims and 31 for Christians. Indian religions like Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism consider atheism to be acceptable. While Christianity remained the largest global religion from 2010 to 2020, the latest Pew Research study found that followers of Islam outpaced every world religion in population over the course of the decade. Religious freedom, discrimination and communal relations (pp. India is an exception. May 19, 2020 · The relationship between mental health and social disadvantage in low- and middle-income countries is poorly understood. [2][3] Despite the secular and religiously tolerant Constitution of India, broad religious representation in various aspects of society Feb 24, 2025 · In 2020 the World Religion Database survey (cited by the US Department of State) had Hindus at 72. This statistics report presents data and figures on religion in India. 9% of the world's population). The space that does exist for debating religious authority and belief is shrinking, said Avinash Patil, a religious skeptic who was born Hindu India is the most populous country in the world, with one-sixth of the world's population. 2% of the country's population, or approximately 172. It is based on the 2021 report “ Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation,” the Center’s most comprehensive, in-depth exploration of Indian public opinion to date. How we did this This Pew Research Center study describes the religious makeup of India’s population, how it changed between 1951 and 2011, and the main causes of the change. 114-146 Jun 9, 2025 · Find how many people identify with each religious group and what percent each made up in 201 countries and territories, and by region, in 2010 and 2020. Commission on International Religious Freedom listed India as a “country of particular concern” for the first time since 2004. [16][17][18] The dead also included over a Aug 25, 2022 · A Facebook post is being widely shared that compares the literacy rates of various religious minorities in India. Mar 18, 2024 · Meanwhile, in its 2020 report [PDF], the U. The relationship between mental health and social disadvantage in low- and middle-income countries is poorly understood. 2 billion worldwide Sep 21, 2021 · The role of age structures and life expectancy in religious change Related to fertility rates, the age distributions of India’s largest religious groups differ significantly. Dec 16, 2022 · Religion in India, Past and Present by Lawrence A. Mar 6, 2025 · Religion Population in India - Explore the cultural mosaic of India with insights on how many religions are in India. With the CAA in place, Muslims would primarily bear the punitive Jun 10, 2025 · Muslims grew faster than any other major religious group in the decade leading up to 2020, according to new Pew Research Center estimates. Dec 19, 2024 · Discover the fastest growing religions in the world and understand the impact of their growth on global societies and cultural norms. C. As a result there have been only "modest changes" in the religious Mar 3, 2022 · In February 2020, after India’s parliament gave migrants of all South Asia’s major religions—except for Muslims—an expedited path to Indian citizenship, clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Delhi left more than 50 dead. Dec 14, 2020 · Devotional Sovereignty: Kingship and Religion in India by Caleb Simmons, New York, NY, Oxford University Press, 2020, xii + 277 pp. [2] Most Hindus live in Asian countries, and the majority of Nepal and India are Hindus, and a significant number in Mauritius. However, the government continues to toughen oversight, increase persecution of some religions, and attempt to co-opt The Citizenship (Amendment) Act and Religious Freedom in India There are serious concerns that the CAA serves as a protective measure for non-Muslims in case of exclusion from a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC)—a proposed list of all Indian citizens. [10] Islam first spread in southern Indian communities along Raise religious freedom and issues affect-ing religious minorities in India through hearings, briefings, letters, delegations, and other activities; and Condition financial assistance and arms sales to India on improved religious free-dom conditions and include measures for additional review and reporting. Babb helps the non-specialist navigate this variety. The 2020 Delhi riots, or North East Delhi riots, were multiple waves of bloodshed, property destruction, and rioting in North East Delhi, India, beginning on 23 February 2020 and brought about chiefly by Hindu mobs attacking Muslims. Newsroom, Jun 9, 2025 / 18:08 pm (CNA). India’s massive population includes not only the vast majority of the world’s Hindus, but also the second-largest group of Muslims within a single country, behind only Indonesia. Based on other primary sources, this paper also briefly examines the recent 2020 Delhi riots. Identifying and Regulating Religion in India: Law, History and the Place of Worship By Geetanjali Srikantan. This purpose is evident from BJP politicians’ rhetoric. 3%). [8][9] Most of India's Muslims are Sunni, with Shia making up around 15% of the Muslim population. 56-67) Oct 8, 2021 · Dr Md. A major new Pew Research Center survey of religion across India, based on nearly 30,000 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), finds that Indians of all these religious backgrounds overwhelmingly say they are very free to practice their faiths. THE 2020 U. For this report, we completed 29,999 face-to-face interviews in 17 languages with adults ages 18 and older living in The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) The religiously discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)—a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are residing in India—passed in Decem-ber 2019 and came into force in January 2020. [1][2] About 80% of the country's population is Hindu. In February 2020, three days of violence erupted in Delhi with mobs attacking Muslim neighborhoods. Where did the Muslim share of the population change the most? Sep 21, 2021 · All religious groups in India have shown major declines in fertility rates, a study from Pew Research Center has found. Andersen published Sriya Iyer: The Economics of Religion in India | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate Increasing Abuses against Religious Minorities in India Introduction Religious freedom conditions in India have continued to worsen throughout 2024, particularly in the months prior to and immediately following the country’s national elections. Meanwhile, fertility differences between India’s religious groups are generally much smaller than they used to be. This textbook is designed to be used in university-level courses dealing with India and South Asian studies. In the five months since, the CAA’s use of religious identity as Hinduism (/ ˈhɪnduˌɪzəm /) [1] is an umbrella term [2][3][a] for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions (sampradaya s) [4][note 1] that are unified by adherence to the concept of dharma, a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, [5][b] as expounded in the Vedas. The analysis focuses on India’s three largest religious groups – Hindus, Muslims and Christians – and also covers Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains when suitable data is available. 00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-19-008889-7 Oct 21, 2020 · The extant literature suggests scholars from developed countries attended this topic very well; however, in case of the developing world, countries like India still lag behind in building a healthy understanding of the implications of such diversity. 258. 39, No. 1 deaths/1000 people in 2016. Sep 21, 2021 · All religious groups in India have shown major declines in fertility rates, a study, external from Pew Research Center has found. Aug 16, 2024 · Find out the latest statistics and facts about the diversity of religion in India and how religiosity affects socio-political opinions of young Indians in the country. 118, No. Jun 29, 2021 · India’s massive population is diverse as well as devout. Applying two complementary empirical strategies to data on 10,125 adults Sep 6, 2020 · Within the framework of identity politics in India, where religion seems to dominate the social, economic and political spheres, based on my participants interviews, this paper mainly focuses on how the 2002 Gujarat riots impacted on Muslims in Gujarat. 34%). The World Religion Database estimates the religious group breakdown in 2020 as Hindus, 72. Moreover, India is ahead Jun 9, 2025 · The latest Pew report found that Islam outpaced every world religion in population from 2010 to 2020, though Christianity remained the largest globally. Below table is the population of India from 1960 to 2020: Jun 9, 2025 · In nine of these countries, Islam is the majority religion. Hindus in India (2011) Religion in India: Religious Composition of Population and Religious Regions 6 9 Inter-state data analysis confirms 21 states and 6 union territories have Hindu majority while 7 states and one union territory have Hindus as a minority religion. However, the influence of Indian secularism has waned since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. [16] The long title of the draft bill stated: "to provide freedom of religion by prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion 4 days ago · Hinduism is a major world religion originating on the Indian subcontinent and comprising several and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual. [6] India is one of the three countries in the world (Nepal (81%) and Mauritius (48%) being the other two) where Hinduism Hinduism has approximately 1. Jul 12, 2021 · Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to take a closer look at the Christian population in India. Apr 9, 2020 · The 82-page report, “‘Shoot the Traitors’: Discrimination Against Muslims Under India’s New Citizenship Policy,” says the police and other officials have repeatedly failed to intervene International religion sur v ey data This page includes large surveys that cover a broad range of questions across multiple religious and demographic groups in one or more regions around the globe. Worldwide, more than Jun 11, 2025 · A new report titled “How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020” finds that Islam was the fastest-growing major religion over the decade, expanding by 21% globally, twice the May 1, 2025 · In recent years, USCIRF has reported declining religious freedom conditions in India, as the government continues to enforce and strengthen legislation that disproportionately impacts religious minorities, including anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws. Tolerance towards dissent, minorities, or respecting religious and Over 2,900 incidences of rioting or violence between religious communities were filed in India between 2017 and 2021, according to the Indian government’s data from the National Crime Records Bureau, which was cited by Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai in a reply in Rajya Sabha. Muslims continued to be the second-largest religious group in the world after Christians. The data is presented first without and then with specific sects of the most populous religions, and a broad analysis follows. According to the UN's World Population dashboard, in 2023 India's population stood at slightly over 1. Births, deaths and migration of population. Buddhism and Jainism have significant followers, especially in certain states, despite being a minority across the nation. The mechanism is widely viewed as a counter to China’s growing influence. 2 billion, reaching the billion mark in 2000. Actual debates about secularism in India are shown to revolve around these ideals. May 10, 2020 · Religions in India {Estimate} 2020-2100 | Future Population | InfoXpace 8. 425 billion people, as reported by the Jun 12, 2025 · From Majority to Margin? Hindu numbers fall as Islam population soars — What Pew Report reveals A Pew Research report reveals a global religious shift- Islam is rising rapidly, while Hinduism sees a quiet decline. 91 billion people, is the second-largest religion and is expected to nearly match Christianity's following by 2050. As a result there have been only "modest changes" in the religious make-up The NGOs ICC and ADF India stated that authorities pursued charges against Christians in several states, most frequently Uttar Pradesh, under religious conversion laws or laws prohibiting “insults” to religion or religious belief, including Section 259A of the national penal code. 8; and Sikhs, 1. 2 billion adherents worldwide (14. Fertility rate is 2. Lawrence A. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. 5 percent; Christians, 4. RELIGION CENSUS IS NOW COMPLETE With more than 370 religious bodies, over 350,000 congregations, and over 160 million adherents, the 2020 U. 98 Cr (1,40,97,92,396). 9 percent; Sikhs, 1. Aug 30, 2018 · This report provides an overview of religious freedom issues in India, beginning with a brief review of U. But the survey also finds that for most How we did this This Pew Research Center study describes the religious makeup of India’s population, how it changed between 1951 and 2011, and the main causes of the change. This includes general surveys of religion in India, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Israel, and other parts of the world. Explore India detailed census data trends, including growth rates and demographic insights from Census 2011. 1119-1141 Aug 19, 2024 · This report presents interim estimates of the overall population in each religious group (including migrants and nonmigrants) using data from three Pew Research Center studies: “ The Future of World Religions ” (projections of religious composition to the year 2020 published in 2015), “ Modeling the Future of Religion in America ” (2022 6 days ago · By Madalaine Elhabbal Washington, D. The 213 million Muslims living in India as of 2020 make up only 15% of the country’s overall population. For more C Sep 6, 2025 · According to the Indian government’s own data from the National Crime Records Bureau, over 2,900 cases of rioting or violence between religious communities were registered in India between 2017 and 2021. Indo-Pacific Strategy. In 2020, Indonesia recorded the largest population of Muslims worldwide, with around 239 million. [46] Data on Religious Freedom in India - overall score, and factor values for Government Restrictions Index (GRI) and Social Hostilities Index (SHI). Babb, 2020, Dunedin Academic Press edition, in English Feb 1, 2020 · The religious map of India is notoriously complex; not only are there indigenous traditions in great variety but imported faiths such as Islam and Christianity have been added to the mix. Our study contributes the first population-level analysis of mental health disparities in India, where the two marginalized groups that we study constitute a population larger tha … The passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in early December 2019 triggered protests on a scale not seen in India since Narendra Modi’s far-right Hindu government came to power in 2014. ISBN: 9781108840538. New Sep 21, 2021 · All major religious groups in India have shown sharp declines in their fertility rates, limiting change in the country’s religious composition since 1951. S-India trade and investment have increased, while a relatively wealthy and well-educated Indian-American community is exercising newfound domestic political influence. -India relations and India’s human rights setting broadly, then discussing the country’s religious demographics, religious freedom protections, and conceptions of Hindu nationalism and its key institutional proponents in Indian society. Explore India's diverse religious landscape with Vakilsearch guide. 7% in 2018. Madan, Religion in India, Daedalus, Vol. N. Religion population is given in %age in Wikipedia But here it is converted to number by calculating (Percentage/100) x Total Population of India. com Jun 12, 2021 · A visualisation made with Flourish – the platform for interactive data visualisation and storytelling After the reporting period, India continued on this negative trajectory. 1 Indian Secularism: Roots, Underpinnings & Substantive Aspects Chandrachud (2020) argues that secularism, as a concept, was introduced in British India although this form of secularism differs significantly from the model adopted in independent India. Since the 1990s, Hinduism has taken on a much more aggressive character. Jun 9, 2025 · India – the birthplace of Hinduism – has more Hindu residents than any other country, with 95% (or 1. Islam, followed by over 1. [7] India has the third-largest number of Muslims in the world. -based nonprofit Indian American Muslim Council on Religious Freedom in India, Amnesty International USA said the organization was forced to halt all operations in the country in 2020 because of the FCRA requirements. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post. [45] This number being surpassed by the number of people (7,570,000) switching from "religious" to "unaffiliated". Life expectancy for male is 67, and for female is 70. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act and Religious Freedom in India There are serious concerns that the CAA serves as a protective measure for non-Muslims in case of exclusion from a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC)—a proposed list of all Indian citizens. Religious violence in India includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting. Religion in India is characterised by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices. In conjunction with a proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC Jun 29, 2021 · These are among the findings of “Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation,” a significant new report released today by the Pew Research Center. This article, by contrast, examines Hinduism, the world's oldest and third most populous religion Feb 19, 2021 · Authorities in India have adopted laws and policies that systematically discriminate against Muslims and stigmatize critics of the government, Human Rights Watch said today. Population clock live, current, historical and projected population. Jul 22, 2025 · With almost all major religions being practiced throughout the country, India is known for its religious diversity. They are a religious minority in eight of the 1o countries with the largest numbers of Hindus. The past two centuries have seen large-scale migration of Hindus from May 15, 2008 · A significant proportion of China’s population claims to follow a religion. This report was a further shock to the BJP, as it reported a further shrinking Hindu percentage with more than a quarter of Indians belonging to other faiths. In this visualization we are trying to show how the population of various religion Jul 29, 2025 · Christians also made up a small share of the two countries with more than 1 billion people: India and China. Aug 21, 2019 · Top 6 Religions with Highest Population Growth in India from 1950 to 2020. This was followed with around 226. Dec 11, 2020 · PDF | On Dec 11, 2020, Peter B. Hindu nationalism Jul 20, 2021 · Artists create Hindu ritual artwork depicting India as a mother goddess holding the national flag and a symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s Independence Day on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on Aug. , US$99. Snapshot Christianity, with about 2. 2 percent. Apr 20, 2021 · 2. Please refer to our 2025 report “How the Global Religious Landscape Changed from 2010 to 2020” for the latest 2010 and 2020 religious composition estimates. Apr 2, 2015 · Note (June 2025): Religious composition estimates in this report are based on 2010 baseline numbers that have since been updated. 38 billion followers, is the world's largest religion, deeply diversified into numerous denominations like Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. [c] The word Hindu is an exonym, [note 2] and while Hinduism has been Lists of the populations of the world’s religions as of 2020 reveal a varied collection of religious traditions old and new, big and small, centrally organized and diffuse. It provides information from country censuses as well as best estimates for every religion to offer a definitive picture of religion and non-religion in the past, present, and future. 3 births per woman in 2017. These groups all grew there from 2010-2020, according to Pew Research Center. Yet amid these shifts, Hinduism remained remarkably stable - both in Oct 26, 2022 · With Diwali celebrations and Sunak’s transition underway, here are some facts about Hindus around the world, drawing on a Pew Research Center survey of India conducted in 2019-2020, our 2021 study of the religious composition of India, and other sources. There were reports of Delhi police, operating under the Home Ministry’s authority, failing to halt attacks and even directly participating in the violence. (Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images) At least since the Bharatiya Janata Party Jan 20, 2025 · A Pew Research study “ Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation,” released in July and based on interviews conducted in 2019 and 2020, found that 84 percent of those surveyed across different faiths said that “respecting all religions was very important to truly being Indian”; 80 percent said that “respecting other religions was Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14. Feb 4, 2022 · The years 2020 and 2021 have provided many examples of how traditional festivals and rituals that did not adapt to the times resulted in superspreader events. Infant Mortality is 40/1000 live births in 2017. This article aims to present statistical information on the number of adherents to various religions, including major faiths such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and others, as well as smaller religious communities. Here, however, I take the view that an account of religion in India can hardly be complete without considering religion’s ever-tightening grip on politics in the Republic of India. Some examples in India include the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar in 2021 and the Islamic religious congregation Tablighi Jamaat at the Nizamuddin Markaz center in New Delhi in 2020. The list of religious populations article provides a comprehensive overview of the distribution and size of religious groups around the world. 8 percent; and agnostics, 1. National income - ₹ 197,456,704 million 5 January – 2020 Jawaharlal Nehru University attack 11 January – Bombay High Court stayed a Sessions Court order by Sessions Judge Dinesh Eknath Kothalikar made on Nov 2019 which restored criminal case against Adani Enterprises, its chairman Gautam Adani and managing director Rajesh Adani for carrying out share rigging in connivance with Ketan Jun 11, 2025 · Between 2010 and 2020, the global population grew significantly, and most major religious groups expanded alongside it. Religions of India is characterised by a diversity of various religious beliefs and numerous practices. A new Pew Research Center report, based on a face-to Jan 20, 2025 · The World Religion Database estimates the religious group breakdown in 2020 as Hindus, 72. 97%) is substantially higher than China (0. Barring dramatic changes in the trajectories of India’s populations, Muslims would be expected to continue to grow slowly as a share of the Indian population in the coming decades, while Hindus will remain a large majority. Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application India’s constitution [1] guarantees religious freedom, and the country has a distinct form of secularism that strives to treat religious traditions equally. 5 percent; Muslims, 14. - Volume 37 Issue 1 Minimal secularism does not single out religion as special, and it appeals to abstract liberal democratic ideals such as equal inclusion and personal liberty. 8%) and Islam (23. 4, Another India (Fall, 1989), pp. 1 billion) of the global Hindu population. The book's concluding chapters deal with the impact of colonialism on Indian religions, the role of religion in the independence struggle, and the riddle of religion's place in the Republic of India's national identity. Our study contributes the first population-level analysis of mental health disparities in India, where the two marginalized groups that we study constitute a population larger than that of the USA. About The World Religion Database The World Religion Database (WRD) contains detailed statistics on religious affiliation for every country of the world. Atheism and agnosticism have a long history in India and flourish within the Śramaṇa movement. [1][2][3] Doubt has been ingrained even in Indian spiritual culture. 15, 2020. Stay up to date on the state of human rights in India with the latest research, campaigns and education material from Amnesty International. The population adheres predominantly to Hinduism, with a substantial proportion following Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism. May 26, 2025 · According to the results of a survey conducted by Nikah Forever, in May 2020,a majority of Muslims in India were not open to inter-religious marriages. 00 (digital). The small number of respondents who did not provide their current religion are included in the "Some other religion" category. Multitudinous and accommodative India, acknowledged as a land of multiple religions, made us delve upon the topic of religious diversity at the Dec 18, 2012 · Note (June 2025): Our new report “How the Global Religious Landscape Changed from 2010 to 2020” includes revised 2010 religious composition estimates at the country, regional and global levels. Several special studies provide data for groups without central data offices, such as the Amish, Buddhist and Hindu groups, as well as Orthodox and non Jun 10, 2025 · The world's Jewish population, the smallest religious group analyzed in the report, grew by 6% between 2010 and 2020, from about 14 million to 15 million people. As of 2020, Hindus make up a majority in two countries, India (79%) and Nepal (81%). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. 2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. Historical factors dating back to the Partition of British India in 1947 with unresolved territorial disputes, have contributed to ongoing hostilities. [12][13][14][15] Between 1975 and 2010, the population doubled to 1. Jun 29, 2021 · A major new Pew Research Center survey of religion across India, based on nearly 30,000 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), finds that Indians of all these religious backgrounds overwhelmingly say they are very free to practice their faiths. 6 days ago · Visit the Definitions and Notes page to view a description of each topic. [1] Religious violence in India has generally involved Hindus and Muslims. With the CAA in place, Muslims would primarily bear the punitive Download scientific diagram | Major religious groups in India. 428 billion, edging past China's population of 1. 6 (December 2020), pp. This violence encompasses various forms, including communal riots, targeted attacks, and spontaneous assaults. When it comes to two other major world religions – Islam and Buddhism – the shares of countries where adherents formed majorities in 2020 was very close to these religions’ shares of the world population. [1] Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world behind Christianity (32. 88 million Muslims in Pakistan and 213 million Muslims in India India’s 110 million indigenous tribespeople are scattered across various states and fragmented into hundreds of clans, with different legends, different languages and different words for their gods. This post claims that the minority community comprising 20% of population are involved in 80% of crimes, 90% of treasons but 70% of them are illiterate and only less than 1% pays taxes. India, at the heart of this change, faces tough questions as numbers defy old narratives Jun 9, 2025 · Hindus, Muslims and the unaffiliated each make up about a quarter or more of the Asia-Pacific population. See full list on worldatlas. 54K subscribers 670 Sep 17, 2021 · While India's coronavirus lockdown limited public movement to a large extent, incidents of religious violence saw a major rise. [14][15] Of the 53 people killed, two-thirds were Muslims who were shot, slashed with repeated blows, or set on fire. A significant number of people, nearly 1. ujpu zxge viaghd mjtnj schp rgr jomn bfwj jgzygtu znzhyqsv