伊斯蘭教信徒2060年前將挑戰基督教徒人數
The Pew Research Center says Muslims are soon to rival Christians as the largest religious group worldwide, with higher birth rates among Muslim families predicted to increase the Muslim population to a number ties with Christians by 2060.
Pew said in a study released Wednesday that by 2060 Muslims will make up about 31 percent of the world population, with about 3 billion people, while Christians will make up about 32 percent, or 3.1 billion people.
A Pew study two years ago found that Islam is the world's fastest growing religion and could overtake Christianity by the end of this century. The analysis is based on 2,500 census, survey and population registers from around the world.
Pew experts say they allowed for conversion rates, but maintain that birth and death rates will have a far larger impact on religious populations.
Other religious groups such as Hindus and Jews are expected to grow to larger total numbers by 2060, but not at pace with total population growth. And the number of people who profess no religion is expected to shrink, given current birth rates.美國皮尤研究中心說，穆斯林人口很快將趕上全球信衆最多的基督教徒。預計，穆斯林家庭較高的出生率將使穆斯林人口在2060年前增加到與基督徒相同的人數。
皮尤中心星期三發表的一項研究中表示，到2060年，穆斯林將佔世界人口的31％，約有30億人，而基督徒將佔32％，即31億人。
兩年前皮尤中心的研究發現，伊斯蘭教是世界上信衆人數增長最快的宗教，到本世紀末可以超越基督教。這一分析基於來自世界各地的2,500個人口普查記錄。
皮尤中心的專家說，這個數字也包括阪依人數，但表示，出生和死亡率對宗教人口的影響將會更大。
信仰其他宗教的人，如印度教徒和猶太人，預計到2060年總數將會增長，但不能隨着人口總量的增長而增長。從目前的出生率看，無宗教信仰的人預計會減少。
