WASHINGTON, Dec 18: Pakistan and 10 other countries with the largest number of Muslims are also home to two-thirds (66 per cent) of all Muslims, says a survey released on Tuesday.

The largest share – 13pc – lives in Indonesia, followed by India 11pc, Pakistan 11pc, and Bangladesh 8pc.

Nigeria shares 5pc of the world’s Muslim population, Egypt 5pc, Iran 5pc, Turkey 5pc, Algeria 2pc and Morocco 2pc.

Muslims make up a majority of the population in 49 countries. Nearly three-quarters of all Muslims – 73pct – live in these countries. Although Muslims are a minority in India – 14pc of the total population – India nonetheless has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life also reports that people with no religious affiliation make up the third-largest global group, placing after Christians and Muslims and just before Hindus.

The report on the size and distribution of the world’s major religious groups – based on the data collected in 2010 – says that Christianity is the most evenly spread religion, present in all regions of the world.

Hinduism is the least global with 94pc of its population in one country, India.

Muslims number 1.6 billion, representing 23pc of all people worldwide. The overwhelming majority – 87-90pc – of Muslims are Sunnis; about 10-13pc are Shia.

Muslims are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, where six-in-ten – 62pc – of all Muslims reside. About 20pc Muslims live in the Middle East and North Africa while 16pc live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Median Age Globally: Muslims are younger – median age of 23 – than the overall global population – median age of 28. In the five regions for which data are available, Muslims are youngest in sub-Saharan Africa – median age of 17, followed by the Middle East and North Africa 23, Asia and the Pacific 24, North America 26 and Europe 32.

“Muslims are going to grow as a share of the world’s population and an important part of that is this young age structure,” says Pew Forum demographer Conrad Hackett.

By contrast, Judaism, which has 14 million adherents or 0.2pc of the world population, has the highest median age at 36, meaning its growth prospects are weakest.

Global Christianity’s median age is 30 and Hinduism’s 26. With a median age of 34, the growth prospects for religiously unaffiliated people are also weak.—Correspondent