Our study analyzes 198 countries and territories and is based on policies and events in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available.

Nearly a quarter of countries used force to prevent religious gatherings during the pandemic; other government restrictions and social hostilities related to religion remained fairly stable.

For more than a decade, Pew Research Center has been tracking global patterns in restrictions on religion – both those imposed by governments and hostilities committed by individuals and social groups.

Large majorities in both parties say spending time with family provides them a great deal or quite a bit of meaning and fulfillment.

Most U.S. adults – including a solid majority of Christians and large numbers of people who identify with other religious traditions – consider the Earth sacred and believe God gave humans a duty to care for it. But highly religious Americans are far less likely than other U.S. adults to express concern about warming temperatures around the globe.

But they hold differing opinions about what that phrase means, and two-thirds of U.S. adults say churches should keep out of politics.

With Diwali celebrations underway, here are some facts about Hindus around the world.

Whether the U.S. will continue to have a Christian majority in 2070 will depend on many factors, including religious “switching.”

Abortion has risen as an election issue for Latinos, with a majority saying it should be legal in all or most cases. Meanwhile, 80% say the economy is a very important issue when deciding who to vote for in the upcoming congressional midterm elections, a greater share than any other issue.

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.