THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Muslim population in Kerala has been growing at a faster rate compared with the Hindu and the Christian population.

A TOI analysis of the 2001 and 2011 religion-based census data showed the state's Muslim population grew by 12.23% while the other two communities (Hindus up by 2.23%, Christians by 1.38%) lagged far behind.

The Muslim population rose from 78.63 lakh to 88.73 lakh. The Hindu population went up from 1.78 crore in 2001 to 1.82 crore in 2011. The Christians in the state had a marginal rise, from 60.57 lakh to 61.41 lakh in the last decade.

Experts attribute the Muslim proclivity for a bigger family to a spectrum of factors, including affluence, early marriage, adherence to joint-family system and strong religious belief.

International population expert P Arokiasamy said the corresponding fall in proportion of the Christians may be due to fall in fertility rate. "The fertility rate of the Christians started falling much earlier than other religions and thus the population growth is minimal or has declined in some parts of the country. The delayed marriage and adherence two-child norm are the other reasons,'' he said.

The largest Muslim population is in Malappuram district. Ernakulam district has the largest number of Christians while the highest concentration of Hindus is in Thiruvananthapuram district.

