Hindu population down below 80% for first time ever, Muslims at 14%, shows Census data

New Delhi: The latest census data on the population of religious groups, released by the Modi government on Tuesday, shows a 0.7 percent decline in the Hindu population, while a growth of 0.8 percent has been registered in the Muslim community.

The census has distributed the total population amongst six religions namely Hindu, Muslim, Christians, Sikh, Buddhist and Jains.

In 2011, total population was registered as – 121.09 crores, in which Hindus constituted 79.8 percent, Muslims 14.2 percent, Christians 2.3 percent, Sikh 1.7 percent, Buddhist 0.7 percent and Jain 0.4 percent.

The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India today released the data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011. The distribution is total population by six major religious communities namely, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain besides “Other Religions and Persuasions” and “Religion not stated”.

The data are released by sex and residence up to sub-districts and towns. Total population in 2011 is 121.09 crores ; Hindu 96.63 crores (79.8%); Muslim 17.22 crores (14.2%); Christian 2.78 crores (2.3%); Sikh 2.08 crores (1.7%); Buddhist 0.84 crores (0.7%); Jain 0.45 crores (0.4%), Other Religions & Persuasions (ORP) 0.79 crores (0.7%) and Religion Not Stated 0.29 crores (0.2%).

Proportion

The proportion of Hindu population to total population in 2011 has declined by 0.7 percentage point (PP); the proportion of Sikh population has declined by 0.2 PP and the Buddhist population has declined by 0.1 PP during the decade 2001-2011.

The proportion of Muslim population to total population has increased by 0.8 PP. There has been no significant change in the proportion of Christians and Jains.

Growth Rate

The growth rate of population in the decade 2001-2011 was 17.7 %. The growth rate of population of the different religious communities in the same period was as Hindus: 16.8%; Muslim: 24.6%; Christian: 15.5%; Sikh: 8.4%; Buddhist: 6.1% and Jain: 5.4%.

Earlier, the government used to provide religion-wise break-up of population data. However, the practice was discontinued in 2011 because of a controversy that followed the 2001 Census, which showed a relatively high growth of Muslim population primarily on account of the inclusion of Jammu and Kashmir.

The comparison was skewed because the militancy-hit state was not covered in the headcount for 1991.

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