NEPAL, June 4, 2023 (The Week): The population of Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal slightly declined over the past decade while the population of Muslims and Christians marginally increased, according to the country’s latest census report. Hinduism is the predominant religion in Nepal comprising 81.19 per cent of the total population, said the 2021 census report published by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Saturday. “As many as 23,677,744 people follow Hinduism. Buddhism is the second most followed religion in the country with 2,394,549 followers – 8.2 percent of Nepal’s population,” it said. Islam is followed by 1,483,060 people and it’s the third most followed religion with 5.09 per cent of the total population. The census report suggested that the population of Hindus and Buddhists slightly declined over the past decade while the population of Muslims, Christians, and Kirats marginally increased.

The followers of Hinduism and Buddhism declined by 0.11 per cent and 0.79 per cent respectively over the past 10 years. Similarly, the population of Islam, Kirat, and Christians increased by 0.69, 0.17 and 0.36 per cent respectively, according to the data. During the 2011 population census, there were 81.3 percent Hindus, 9 percent Buddhists, 4.4 percent Muslims, 3.1 percent Kiratis, and 1.4 percent Christians in the Himalayan nation. Nepal conducts a population census every ten years but this time the results were delayed due to Covid-19.

https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2023/06/04/nepals-8119-per-cent-population-is-hindu-even-as-followers-of-hinduism-buddhism-decline.html

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