In the next 20 years,
Muslims in Israel (excluding Gaza and the West Bank) will reach 23.2 per
cent of the population of the Jewish state, rising from 1.3 million in
2010 to 2.1 million in 2030, this according to a report by the Pew Forum
on Religion & Public Life.
In the past 20 years, the Muslim population in Israel
has more than doubled, going from 0.6 million in 1990 to 1.3 million in
2010, and it is expected to reach 2.1 million by 2030.
However, falling birth rates will slow the growth the
world's Muslim population over the same period, from 2.2 per cent a year
in 1990-2010 to 1.5 per cent a year from now until 2030, the study
shows.
“The declining growth rate is due primarily to falling
fertility rates in many Muslim-majority countries," it said. This is
happening because the birth rate is falling, as more Muslim women are
educated, living standards rise and rural people move to the cities.
It said about 60 per cent of the world's Muslims will
live in the Asia-Pacific region in 2030, 20 per cent in the Middle East,
17.6 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa, 2.7 per cent in Europe and 0.5 per
cent in the Americas.
SIC: AN/INT'L