Source: Christian Today, March 16, 2026
The number of people identifying as Buddhist worldwide fell over the past decade, with researchers pointing to an aging population and a growing trend of people abandoning the religion in adulthood.
A major new analysis by the Pew Research Center found that Buddhism was the only major world faith to record a decline between 2010 and 2020.
During that period, the number of Buddhists worldwide dropped from around 343 million to 324 million—a fall of about 5%—even as the global population expanded by roughly 12%.
Researchers say the change reflects a combination of demographic pressures and religious switching, with more people leaving Buddhism than adopting it.
While Buddhism continues to attract converts, it loses a greater proportion of those raised within the tradition than any other major faith examined in the study.
Read the full story. Looks like the study, published in 2025, reported that Muslims grew the fastest while Christians lagged behind population growth.