Do you need to believe in God to be moral and have good values? Views on this question vary widely around the world, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey of 25 countries.
About this research
This analysis explores whether adults in 25 surveyed countries think belief in God is necessary to be moral and how those views have changed over time.
Why did we do this?
Pew Research Center conducts high-quality research to inform the public, journalists and leaders. Studying religion and related topics, such as morality, has long been part of the Center’s research around the world. Learn more about Pew Research Center and our other research on religion.
How did we do this?
For data outside the United States, this analysis draws on nationally representative surveys of 28,333 adults conducted from Jan. 8 to April 26, 2025. We conducted these surveys:
- Over the phone in Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom
- Face-to-face in Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa and Turkey
- Using a mixed-mode probability-based online panel in Australia
In the U.S., we surveyed 3,605 adults from March 24 to 30, 2025. Everyone who took part in the survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP).
Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and the survey methodology.
| Group | Not necessary | Necessary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | NA | 68 | 31 |
| Canada | NA | 77 | 21 |
| Greece | EU | 70 | 30 |
| Hungary | EU | 73 | 27 |
| Italy | EU | 74 | 25 |
| U.K. | EU | 77 | 22 |
| Germany | EU | 78 | 21 |
| Netherlands | EU | 81 | 18 |
| Poland | EU | 80 | 16 |
| France | EU | 83 | 16 |
| Spain | EU | 84 | 15 |
| Sweden | EU | 89 | 10 |
| Indonesia | ASIA | 1 | 99 |
| India | ASIA | 13 | 85 |
| South Korea | ASIA | 52 | 47 |
| Japan | ASIA | 62 | 34 |
| Australia | ASIA | 89 | 11 |
| Turkey | MENA | 22 | 76 |
| Israel | MENA | 53 | 43 |
| Kenya | SSA | 6 | 94 |
| South Africa | SSA | 19 | 80 |
| Nigeria | SSA | 23 | 77 |
| Brazil | LATAM | 26 | 74 |
| Mexico | LATAM | 47 | 53 |
| Argentina | LATAM | 55 | 44 |
Nearly everyone in Indonesia (99%), as well as the vast majority of people in Kenya (94%), India (85%) and South Africa (80%), say it’s necessary to believe in God to be moral.
By contrast, in about a dozen countries, two-thirds of adults or more say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral. This includes the United States (68%), Poland (80%), Spain (84%) and Sweden (89%).
In some countries – including the U.S. – declining shares of people say it’s necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values, according to the survey.
Downward trend in the U.S.
In the U.S., we’ve asked this question 18 times since 2002. That includes eight surveys conducted online using our American Trends Panel and 10 surveys conducted by telephone.
| Not necessary (online) | Necessary (online) | Not necessary (phone) | Necessary (phone) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24-30, 2025 | 68 | 31 | ||
| Apr 8-14, 2024 | 67 | 32 | ||
| Mar 21-27, 2022 | 65 | 34 | ||
| Nov 19, 2019-June 3, 2020 | 67 | 32 | ||
| Jan 6-19, 2020 | 65 | 35 | ||
| Sep 5-16, 2019 | 59 | 39 | ||
| Sep 3-15, 2019 | 63 | 36 | ||
| May 13-June 18, 2019 | 54 | 44 | ||
| Dec 4-18, 2017 | 66 | 33 | ||
| Jun 8-Jul 9, 2017 | 56 | 42 | ||
| Jul 7-Aug 4, 2014 | 58 | 42 | ||
| Jan 23-Mar 16, 2014 | 53 | 45 | ||
| Mar 25-Apr 14, 2011 | 46 | 53 | ||
| Feb 22-Mar 14, 2011 | 49 | 48 | ||
| April 23-May 6, 2007 | 41 | 57 | ||
| Dec, 2004 | 46 | 50 | ||
| Aug 19-Sept 8, 2002 | 40 | 58 | ||
| March, 2002 | 50 | 47 |
From 2002 through 2011, Americans were split fairly evenly or tilted toward the view that people need to believe in God to be moral and have good values.
Starting in 2014, however, Americans have been more likely to say the opposite – that belief in God is not necessary to be moral. Since 2020, about two-thirds of U.S. adults have taken this position.
(In 2014, Pew Research Center conducted a study to determine whether survey respondents tend to answer certain questions differently on the phone with a live interviewer than they do when they take a survey online. That study found no major differences between phone and online responses for this question.)
Declines around the world
In Pew Research Center surveys going back as far as 2002, people in many other countries also have become less inclined to say that belief in God is necessary to be moral.
In just the past three years (from 2022 to 2025), 11 countries have seen a decline in the percentage of adults who say it’s necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values. This includes a 16 percentage point drop in Germany, where 21% of adults currently hold this view, down from 37% in 2022.
In some countries, the most recent comparable survey is from 2019. In four of those countries (Argentina, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa), the share of adults who connect belief in God with morality has declined. In three others (Kenya, Mexico and Turkey), views have not changed.
Only two surveyed countries – India and Indonesia – have seen an increase in the portion of people who say it’s necessary to believe in God to be moral.
Indians today are 6 points more likely than in 2019 (85% vs. 79%) and 15 points more likely than in 2013 (85% vs. 70%) to say belief in God is necessary to be moral. In Indonesia, 96% of adults or more have connected belief in God with morality all five times we’ve asked the question since 2007.
The relationship between belief in God and thinking it’s necessary to be moral
There’s a strong correlation between believing in God and saying that belief in God is necessary to be moral.
In seven of the countries we surveyed in 2025 – Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Turkey – a clear majority of the public links belief in God with morality. All seven also have a very high percentage of adults who express belief in God, according to a separate Center survey from 2024.
| % who say it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values | % who say they believe in God | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 99 | 100 | Indonesia |
| 94 | 100 | Kenya |
| 85 | 97 | India |
| 80 | 95 | South Africa |
| 77 | 100 | Nigeria |
| 76 | 96 | Turkey |
| 74 | 98 | Brazil |
| 53 | 94 | Mexico |
| 47 | 47 | South Korea |
| 44 | 90 | Argentina |
| 43 | 74 | Israel |
| 34 | 46 | Japan |
| 31 | 78 | U.S. |
| 30 | 80 | Greece |
| 27 | 63 | Hungary |
| 25 | 74 | Italy |
| 22 | 57 | U.K. |
| 21 | 60 | Canada |
| 21 | 56 | Germany |
| 18 | 49 | Netherlands |
| 16 | 83 | Poland |
| 16 | 53 | France |
| 15 | 57 | Spain |
| 11 | 49 | Australia |
| 10 | 33 | Sweden |
At the other end of the spectrum, people in Sweden are the least likely to express belief in God (33%) out of the countries we surveyed in 2024. Perhaps not surprisingly, just 10% of Swedes say this type of belief is necessary to be moral and have good values.
Similarly, within countries, people who say religion is very important in their lives are much more likely than other adults to say that belief in God is required to be moral.
In Hungary, for instance, two-thirds of adults who say religion is very important to them also say that belief in God is necessary to be moral. Among Hungarians who place less personal importance on religion, by comparison, just 19% connect belief in God with morality.
Related: In 25-Country Survey, Americans Especially Likely To View Fellow Citizens as Morally Bad
Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and the survey methodology.
