New Delhi: Census 2011 on Tuesday revealed Hindus constitute 79.8 per cent and Muslims 14.2 per cent of the population in India, with the proportion of Hindus to total population in 2011 slipping by 0.7 per cent.
While the growth rate of population from 2001 to 2011 was the highest among the Muslims at 24.6 per cent, for Hindus it was 16.8 per cent, Christians 15.5 per cent, Sikhs 8.4 per cent, Buddhists 6.1 per cent and Jains 5.4 per cent, the data released by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner revealed here on Tuesday.
The overall growth rate of population was 17.7 per cent.
Of the total population of 1.2 billion in 2011, Hindus were 966.3 million (79.8 per cent); Muslims 172.2 million (14.2 per cent); Christians 27.8 million (2.3 per cent); Sikhs 20.8 million (1.7 per cent); Buddhists 8.4 million (0.7 per cent); Jains 4.5 million (0.4 per cent), other religions and persuasions (ORP) 7.9 million (0.7 per cent).
The data also showed that 0.2.9 million (0.2 per cent) of the population had not stated its religion.
According to a home ministry release, the proportion of Muslim population to total population in 2011 had increased by 0.8 percentage points while there had been no significant change in the proportion of Christians and Jains.
“The proportion of Hindu population to total population in 2011 has declined by 0.7 percentage points (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 release said.
As per the 2001 census, India’s total population was 1.02 billion of which Hindu population comprised 827.5 million (80.45 per cent) and Muslims were 138 million (13.4 per cent).
The growth rate of population in the decade 2001-2011 was 17.7 per cent. The growth rate of population of the different religious communities in the same period was Hindus, 16.8 per cent; Muslims: 24.6 per cent; Christians: 15.5 per cent; Sikhs: 8.4 per cent; Buddhists: 6.1 per cent and Jains: 5.4 per cent.
