Washington: According to a new analysis from the Pew Research Center, Islam is projected to be the 2nd most populous religion in the US and the American Muslim population becomes the second largest religious group in the country before 2040.
The research center reports that there are about 3.3 million Muslims of all ages currently living in the United States, or about 1 % of the total U.S. population, and that’s expected to double to 2.1 percent by 2050.
By comparison, the data center estimated Muslims will outrank Jews (5.7 million) before 2040 as the biggest religious group in the U.S. after Christians.
But based on data on age, migration, fertility, mortality, and religion switching, Pew says the American Muslim population growth could top 8.1 million, or 2.1 percent of the population, by 2050.
The data center lists several reasons for the projected rise of the Muslim faith growth, including a rise in the number Muslim immigrants over the past 20 years.
Pew puts it that Islam will grow faster than any other major religion for: “American Muslims tend to have more children than Americans of other religious faiths. Muslims also tend to be younger than the general public, so a larger share of Muslims will soon be at the point in their lives when people begin having children.” (There won’t be much of a net change because of conversion, since “as many Americans become Muslim as leave Islam,” Pew adds.)