New Delhi: Muslims recorded a decadal growth rate of 24.6 per cent between 2001 and 2011 touching 17.22 crores while the Hindus grew at 16.8 per cent to clock a population of 96.63 crores during the same period.

The growth rate of population in the decade 2001-2011 was 17.7 per cent. The growth rate of population of the different religious communities in the same period was as Hindus: 16.8 per cent; Muslim: 24.6 per cent; Christian: 15.5 per cent; Sikh: 8.4 per cent; Buddhist: 6.1 per cent and Jain: 5.4 per cent, according to the census data on population by religious communities released today.