Muslim societies grew far faster than the world average across 1965-1990

Evidence

Population expansion in Islamic countries, particularly in the Balkans, North Africa, and Central Asia, has been significantly greater than that in the neighboring countries and in the world generally. Between 1965 and 1990 the total number of people on earth rose from 3.3 billion to 5.3 billion, an annual growth rate of 1.85 percent. In Muslim societies growth rates almost always were over 2.0 percent, often exceeded 2.5 percent, and at times were over 3.0 percent. … Overall Muslims, as we mentioned, constituted perhaps 18 percent of the world’s population in 1980 and are likely to be over 20 percent in 2000 and 30 percent in 2025. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 319

Categorization

• QUESTION: Huntington’s 2025 projection of 30% is worth testing against actual demography — Islamic population share estimates since then vary.
• SHARE: The striking statistic about Kazakhstan’s low growth because its population is almost half Russian is a specific detail only a demography-interested person would relish.