Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Government restrictions by region The median level of government restrictions on religion decreased in three of the five regions (Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa) and stayed roughly the same in two regions (the Americas and Europe). In the latest year studied, the Middle East and North Africa […]
Half of voters say they are happy Donald Trump was elected president, while about as many (48%) say that they are unhappy. Reactions are similar to 2012 (when 52% said they were happy Obama was reelected), but they are less positive than after Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008, when 58% said they were happy […]
Countries with the most extensive government restrictions on religion Most countries in the world have some form of government restrictions on religion, but each year a few countries stand out as having particularly extensive restrictions. In 2014, 16 of the 198 countries included in the study had a “very high” level of government restrictions, down […]
About half of U.S. adults have looked for a new religious congregation at some point in their lives, most commonly because they have moved.
For the latest data on government restrictions and social hostilities involving religion, read our report “More Countries Had Elevated Levels of Social Hostilities Involving Religion in 2023” and visit the interactive “Religious restrictions around the world.” Worldwide, both government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion decreased modestly from 2013 to 2014 despite a rise in religion-related […]
Another widely accepted indicator of religious commitment is daily prayer. Pew Research Center has collected data on frequency of prayer in 84 countries. In 40 of those countries, there is no significant difference in levels of daily prayer reported by men and women. But in 43 countries (just over 50% of the total), women report […]
Declining share says it is important for president to have strong religious beliefs The share of Americans who think it is important that a president have strong religious beliefs has been steadily declining over the past two election cycles and has reached a new low in Pew Research Center polling. In 2008, 72% said this […]