Key findings about restrictions on religion around the world in 2019
Social hostilities around the world involving religion declined in 2019 to the lowest level in five years.
Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.
CORRECTION (Dec. 19, 2025): Two charts and some of the text in Chapter 1 have been corrected with updated SHI figures. Refer to the errata page for details. Countries with the most extensive government restrictions on religion Government restrictions on religion vary from country to country, and some countries have much higher scores on the Government Restrictions […]