India's Hindu population fell 8%, Muslim population rose 43% in 1950-2015: PM's economic council

India's Hindu population declined by nearly 8% between 1950 and 2015 while Muslim's share grew a record 43% in the same period, according to a study by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

The Hindu population saw a decrease from 84% of the total in 1950 to 78% in 2015. In the same period, the share of minorities, including Muslims, Christian, Buddhist and Sikhs, went up. The number of Jains and Parsis in the population mix decreased.

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Between 1950 and 2015, the Muslim population in India surged by 43.15%, Christians saw a 5.38% increase, Sikhs a 6.58% rise, and Buddhists witnessed a slight increase. 

However, the share of Jains and Parsis in the population mix declined and stood at 0.36 per cent and 0.004 per cent respectively in 2015.

Muslims' share in the population recorded an increase from 9.84% to 14.09% in the same period (of 65 years), according to the EAC-PM study.

India's decline in the Hindu population share is the second-steepest in the region, following only Myanmar's dramatic 10% drop. Even Nepal, another Hindu-majority country, witnessed a decrease of 3.6% in its Hindu population share.

The report, authored by economists Shamika Ravi, Abraham Jose, and Apurv Kumar Mishra, states, “India has witnessed the biggest decline in the majority population (7.82%) only next to Myanmar - which has witnessed a 10 percent decline in its majority population over 65 years.”

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"India has witnessed an increase in the shares of Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and Sikh populations and a decline in the shares of Jain and Parsi populations,” the report said.

Released in May, the study counters common concerns. Examining data carefully, it suggests that minorities in India are not just protected but are thriving.

Blaming the Congress for the decline of Hindu's population share, BJP's IT Cell head Amit Malviya said, "This is what decades of Congress rule did to us. Left to them, there would be no country for Hindus," he wrote in social media post on X. 

(With inputs from agencies)