2. Religious switching into and out of the religiously unaffiliated group
Read about where religiously unaffiliated populations have had the largest net gains, and how those who’ve joined the “nones” identified previously.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Read about where religiously unaffiliated populations have had the largest net gains, and how those who’ve joined the “nones” identified previously.
Christians remain the largest religious group, and Muslims grew the fastest from 2010 to 2020. Read how the global share of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and the religiously unaffiliated changed.
This section describes the methods used to estimate religious composition at the country level, regionally and globally; our procedures for measuring religious groups’ demographic characteristics and their religious “switching” rates; as well as methodological challenges that we considered in some countries. The final section lists the 201 countries and territories that make up each of […]
Buddhism is the only major religion that declined in number globally between 2010 and 2020, mostly due to religious disaffiliation in East Asia and to low birth rates.
Read how demographic factors – age composition, life expectancy and fertility rates – and religious switching changed the global religious landscape.
Read more about how U.S. religious groups see abortion and same-sex marriage, as well as society’s acceptance of homosexuality and transgender people. Religious Landscape Study by Pew Research Center.
Belief in an afterlife, God and spirits in nature is widespread globally. Older adults are more likely than younger adults to believe in God.
Every religious group grew in count in the Middle East and North Africa – a Muslim-majority region – between 2010 and 2020.
Millions of Americans have switched religions over the course of their lives, and most say their religiousness or spirituality has generally shifted too. Religious Landscape Study by Pew Research Center.
Many religious “nones,” which include atheists and agnostics, hold religious and spiritual beliefs in the 22 countries studied. Read about belief in spirits and God, as well as differences by gender.
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