Buddhism declines worldwide as ageing and disaffiliation take their toll, Pew study finds

The number of individuals identifying as Buddhist worldwide fell over the past decade, with researchers pointing to an ageing population and a growing trend of individuals abandoning the faith in maturity.

A significant recent evaluation by the Pew Research Center found that Buddhism was the one major world faith to record a decline between 2010 and 2020.

During that period, the variety of Buddhists worldwide dropped from around 343 million to 324 million – a fall of about 5% – whilst the worldwide population expanded by roughly 12%.

This meant Buddhists made up a smaller proportion of the worldwide population, falling from 4.9% to 4.1%.

Researchers say the change reflects a mix of demographic pressures and non secular switching, with more people leaving Buddhism than adopting it.

While Buddhism continues to draw converts, it loses a greater proportion of those raised inside the tradition than every other major faith examined within the study.

According to Pew’s evaluation, for each 100 adults brought up as Buddhists, 12 adopt the faith as converts. Conversely though, for each 12 who join as adult converts, 22 leave it in maturity, describing themselves as a substitute as believers of one other faith or as having no religious affiliation. This produces a net lack of 10 followers for each 100 people brought up in the religion.

The pattern is especially visible in parts of East Asia. The Center’s 2024 surveys suggest that about half of adults raised Buddhist in Japan not discover with the faith, while in South Korea 60% have moved away from it.

In contrast, switching is much less common in countries reminiscent of Thailand – the country with the most important Buddhist population on the planet – where most individuals raised in the religion proceed to discover with it.

Demographic aspects are also playing a significant role. Globally, Buddhists are likely to be older than members of most other major religious groups. The median age of Buddhists by 2020 was around 40, compared with 31 for the worldwide population overall. Other major faith groups were generally younger, including Christians (31), Jews (38), Muslims (24) and Hindus (29).

Fertility rates amongst Buddhists are also significantly lower than the worldwide average. Women who discover as Buddhist have an estimated 1.6 children on average – the one group whose fertility rate was well below the alternative level of two.1 needed for a population to stay stable over time.

Researchers say that when birth rates stay low for long periods, the population structure regularly shifts toward older generations, eventually resulting in decline.

Geography further shapes the trend, with 98% of the world’s Buddhists residing within the Asia-Pacific region, and about 40% concentrated in East Asia – particularly in South Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

These societies have already got a number of the world’s oldest populations and lowest birth rates.

The variety of Buddhists between 2010 and 2020 in those five places alone decreased by 32 million – a decline of roughly 22%.

The findings form a part of broader research by the Pew Research Center examining global religious change.

Across many regions, researchers say religious affiliation is becoming more fluid, with rising numbers of individuals identifying as atheist, agnostic or having “no religion”.

In several countries, including the United Kingdom, Christianity has also lost its majority status as unaffiliated populations grow.

By 2020, 10 countries worldwide had populations during which the religiously unaffiliated formed the biggest group.

Yet the broader global picture is more complex than easy decline.

Separate research conducted by Gallup on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society and United Bible Societies found that, in most parts of the world, most individuals proceed to imagine in God or some form of upper power, and in 5 of the 7 global contexts studied, majority said that faith plays a major role in every day life.

Taken together, the findings suggest that while institutional affiliation is weakening in some countries, religion continues to play a major role globally.

Christianity stays the world’s largest religious community, Muslims are the fastest-growing major faith group, and most countries still have clear religious majorities.

The data also suggests that patterns of belief are increasingly shaped not only by birth rates but additionally by personal alternative as growing numbers of individuals reassess the religious identities they inherited in childhood.