Belief systems

Christianity 2.1 billion
Cath 1 billion E Orthodox 240 million

Pentecostalism: 105 million
Anglicanism/Episcopal Church: 77 million
Reformed/Presbyterian/Congregational/United: 75 million
Baptist: 70 million Methodism: 70 million
Lutheran: 64 million
Jehovah's Witnesses:14.8 million Latter-day Saints: 12.5 million
Adventists: 12 million Apostolic/New Apostolic: 10 million
Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement: 5.4 million
New Thought (Unity, Christian Science, etc.): 1.5 million
Brethren (incl. Plymouth): 1.5 million
Mennonite: 1.25 million Friends/Quakers: 300,000

Islam: 1.3 billion (Began: ca. 610 AD/CE), with major branches
Sunni: 940 million
Shia: 120 million
Ahmadi: 10 million Druze: 450,000

Secular/irreligious/agnostic/atheist/antitheistic/antireligious: 1.1 billion
Category includes a wide range of beliefs, without specifically adhering to a religion or sometimes specifically against dogmatic religions. The category includes humanism, deism, pantheism, rationalism, freethought, agnosticism, and atheism. Broadly labeled humanism, this group of non religious people are third largest in the world.

Hinduism: 900 million (Began: approximately 1500 BC/BCE or 15th century BC/BCE however some aspects of it trace its history to 2600 BC/BCE or 26th century BC/BCE), with major branches as follows:
Vaishnavism: 580 million
Shaivism: 220 million
Neo-Hindus and Reform Hindus: 22 million
Veerashaivas/Lingayats: 10 million
Chinese folk religion: 394 million
Not a single organized religion, includes elements of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and traditional nonscriptural religious observance (also called "Chinese traditional religion").

Buddhism: 376 million (Began: 6th century BC/BCE), with major branches as follows:
Mahayana: 185 million
Theravada: 124 million
Vajrayana/Tibetan: 20 million
Primal indigenous: 300 million
Sikhism: 23 million (Began: 1500s AD/CE)
Spiritism: 15 million (Began: mid-19th century AD/CE)
Not a single organized religion, includes a variety of beliefs including some forms of Umbanda.


Judaism: 14 million (Began: 13th century BC/BCE), with major branches as follows:
Conservative: 4.5 million
Unaffiliated and Secular: 4.5 million
Reform: 3.75 million
Orthodox: 2 million
Reconstructionist: 150,000

Bahá'í Faith: 7 million (Began: 19th century AD/CE)
Jainism: 4.2 million (Began: 6th century BC/BCE), with major branches as follows:
Svetambara: 4 million
Sthanakvasi: 750,000 Digambar: 155,000
Shinto: 4 million (Began: 300 BC/BCE)
Cao Dai: 4 million (Began: 1926 AD/CE)

Falun Gong: official post-persecution figure as stated by Chinese Communist Party: 2.1 million; Chinese government pre-persecution figure as reported by New York Times: 70-100 million; practitioners and founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi, often refer to 100 million* (Founded: 1992 AD/CE)
Not necessarily considered a religion by adherents or outside observers. No membership or rosters, thus the actual figure of practitioners is impossible to confirm.
Tenrikyo: 2 million (Began: 1838 AD/CE)
Neopaganism: 1 million (Began: 20th century AD/CE)
A blanket term for several religions like Wicca, Asatru, Neo-druidism, and polytheistic reconstructionist religions
Unitarian Universalism: 800,000 (Began: 1961 AD/CE, however, prior to the merger the separate doctrines of Unitarianism and Universalism trace their roots to the 16th and 1st centuries AD/CE respectively)
Rastafari: 600,000 (Began: early 1930s AD/CE)


Scientology: 500,000 (Began: 1952 AD/CE)