List of countries by irreligion
Irreligion, which may include deism, agnosticism, ignosticism, anti-religion, atheism, skepticism, ietsism, spiritual but not religious, freethought, anti-theism, apatheism, non-belief, pandeism, secular humanism, non-religious theism, pantheism, panentheism, and New age, varies in the countries around the world. According to reports from the Worldwide Independent Network/Gallup International Association's (WIN/GIA) four global polls: in 2005, 77% were a religious person and 4% were "convinced atheists"; in 2012, 23% were not a religious person and 13% were "convinced atheists";[2] in 2015, 22% were not a religious person and 11% were "convinced atheists";[3] and in 2017, 25% were not a religious person and 9% were "convinced atheists".[4] According to the Pew Research Centre in 2012, 16% of the world is "religiously unaffiliated", which "include atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion in surveys"; of that overall category, many may still hold some religious beliefs and some engage in religious practices as well.[5]
According to sociologist Phil Zuckerman, broad estimates of those who have an absence of belief in a god range from 500 to 750 million people worldwide.[6] According to sociologists Ariela Keysar and Juhem Navarro-Rivera's review of numerous global studies on atheism, there are 450 to 500 million positive atheists and agnostics worldwide (7% of the world's population) with China alone accounting for 200 million of that demographic.[7] Relative to its own populations, Zuckerman ranks the top 5 countries with the highest possible ranges of agnostics and atheists: Sweden (46-85%), Vietnam (81%), Denmark (43-80%), Norway (31-72%), and Japan (64-65%).[8][9]
Differences in questions asked in polls
Each poll uses different questions and methods:-
- The Worldwide Independent Network/Gallup International Association (WIN/GIA) poll asked "Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say that you are a religious person, not a religious person or a convinced atheist?"
- Dentsu Communication Institute provides data for respondents who stated that they have "no religion".
- Phil Zuckerman uses only the number of people who describe themselves as atheists and agnostics.
The numbers come from different years, and might not be accurate for countries with governments that require or urge religion or secularism.
Countries and regions
The Pew Research Centre data in the table below reflects "religiously unaffiliated" which "include atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion in surveys".
The WIN-Gallup International Association (WIN/GIA) poll results below are the totals for "not a religious person" and "a convinced atheist" combined.
- Keysar et al. have advised caution with WIN/Gallup International figures since more extensive surveys which have used the same wording for decades and have bigger sample sizes, have consistently reached lower figures than the numbers in the table below. For example, the WIN/GIA numbers from China were overestimated which in turn inflated global totals.[7]
The Zuckerman data on the table below only reflect the number of people who have an absence of belief in a deity only (atheists, agnostics). Does not include the broader number of people who do not identify with a religion such as deists, spiritual but not religious, pantheists, New Age spiritualism, etc.
| Pew | WIN/GIA | Dentsu | Zuckerman | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country or region | (2012)[10] | (2017)[11] | (2015)[3] | (2012)[12][13] | (2006)[14] | (2004)[6] |
 Afghanistan (details)
|
< 0.1% | 9% | 15% | |||
 Albania (details)
|
1.4% | 39% | 8% | |||
 Argentina
|
12.2% | 34% | 20% | 26% | 13% | 4–8% |
 Armenia
|
1.3% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 34% | |
 Australia (details)
|
24.2% | 63% | 58% | 58% | 24–25% | |
 Austria
|
13.5% | 53% | 54% | 53% | 12% | 18–26% |
 Azerbaijan (details)
|
< 0.1% | 64% | 54% | 51% | ||
 Bangladesh (details)
|
< 0.1% | 19% | 5% | |||
 Belarus
|
28.6% | 48% | 17% | |||
 Belgium (details)
|
29% | 64% | 48% | 34% | 35% | 42–43% |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
2.5% | 22% | 32% | 29% | ||
 Brazil (details)
|
7.9% | 17% | 18% | 14% | ||
 Bulgaria (details)
|
4.2% | 39% | 39% | 30% | 30% | 34–40% |
 Cameroon
|
5.3% | 17% | ||||
 Canada (details)
|
23.7% | 57% | 53% | 49% | 26% | 19–30% |
 Chile
|
8.6% | 34% | ||||
 China (details)
|
52.2% | 90% | 90% | 77% | 93% | 8–14% |
 Colombia
|
6.6% | 14% | 17% | 15% | ||
 DR Congo
|
1.8% | 17% | ||||
 Croatia (details)
|
5.1% | 13% | 7% | |||
 Cuba
|
23% | 7% | ||||
 Czech Republic (details)
|
76.4% | 72% | 75% | 78% | 64% | 54–61% |
 Denmark (details)
|
11.8% | 61% | 52% | 10% | 43–80% | |
 Dominican Republic
|
10.9% | 7% | ||||
 Ecuador
|
5.5% | 18% | 28% | 29% | ||
 Estonia (details)
|
59.6% | 60% | 76% | 49% | ||
 Fiji
|
0.8% | 8% | 7% | 6% | ||
 Finland (details)
|
17.6% | 55% | 42% | 44% | 12% | 28–60% |
 France (details)
|
28% | 50% | 53% | 63% | 43% | 43–54% |
 Georgia (details)
|
0.7% | 7% | 13% | |||
 Germany (details)
|
24.7% | 60% | 59% | 48% | 25% | 41–49% |
 Ghana (details)
|
4.2% | 1% | 2% | |||
 Greece
|
6.1% | 22% | 21% | 4% | 16% | |
 Hungary (details)
|
18.6% | 43% | 32–46% | |||
 Iceland (details)
|
3.5% | 49% | 44% | 41% | 4% | 16–23% |
 India (details)
|
< 0.1% | 5% | 23% | 16% | 7% | 9.11% |
 Indonesia (details)
|
< 0.1% | 30% | 15% | |||
 Iran (details)
|
0.1% | 20% | 1% | |||
 Iraq (details)
|
0.1% | 34% | 9% | |||
 Ireland (details)
|
6.2% | 56% | 51% | 54% | 7% | |
 Israel (details)
|
3.1% | 58% | 65% | 15–37% | ||
 Italy (details)
|
12.4% | 26% | 24% | 23% | 18% | 6–15% |
 Japan (details)
|
57% | 60% | 62% | 62% | 52% | 64–65% |
 Kazakhstan (details)
|
4.2% | 11–12% | ||||
 Kenya (details)
|
2.5% | 9% | 11% | |||
 Kosovo
|
1.6% | 3% | 8% | |||
 Kyrgyzstan
|
0.4% | 7% | ||||
 Latvia
|
43.8% | 52% | 50% | 41% | 20–29% | |
 Lebanon (details)
|
0.3% | 28% | 18% | 35% | ||
 Lithuania
|
10% | 40% | 23% | 19% | 13% | |
 Luxembourg
|
26.8% | 30% | ||||
 Malaysia
|
0.7% | 23% | 13% | |||
 Malta
|
2.5% | 1% | ||||
 Mexico (details)
|
4.7% | 36% | 28% | |||
 Moldova
|
1.4% | 10% | ||||
 Mongolia
|
35.9% | 29% | 9% | |||
 Morocco (details)
|
< 0.1% | 5% | ||||
 Netherlands (details)
|
42.1% | 66% | 56% | 55% | 39–44% | |
 New Zealand (details)
|
36.6% | 20–22% | ||||
 Nigeria (details)
|
0.4% | 2% | 16% | 5% | 1% | |
 North Korea
|
71.3% | 15% | ||||
 North Macedonia
|
11% | 10% | 9% | |||
 Norway (details)
|
10.1% | 62% | 31–72% | |||
 Pakistan (details)
|
< 0.1% | 6% | 11% | 10% | ||
 Palestinian territories
|
< 0.1% | 35% | 19% | 33% | ||
 Panama
|
4.8% | 13% | ||||
 Papua New Guinea
|
< 0.1% | 5% | 4% | |||
 Peru (details)
|
3% | 23% | 13% | 11% | 5% | |
 Philippines (details)
|
0.1% | 9% | 22% | 11% | ||
 Poland (details)
|
5.6% | 10% | 12% | 14% | 5% | |
 Portugal
|
4.4% | 38% | 37% | 11% | 4–9% | |
 Puerto Rico
|
1.9% | 11% | ||||
 Romania (details)
|
0.1% | 9% | 17% | 7% | 2% | |
 Russia (details)
|
16.2% | 30% | 23% | 32% | 48% | 24–48% |
 Saudi Arabia (details)
|
0.7% | 24% | ||||
 Serbia
|
3.3% | 21% | 21% | 19% | ||
 Singapore (details)
|
16.4% | 13% | ||||
 Slovakia
|
14.3% | 23% | 10–28% | |||
 Slovenia
|
18% | 53% | 30% | 35–38% | ||
 South Africa (details)
|
14.9% | 32% | 11% | |||
 South Korea (details)
|
46.4% | 60% | 55% | 46% | 37% | 30–52% |
 South Sudan
|
1% | 16% | ||||
 Spain (details)
|
19% | 57% | 55% | 47% | 16% | 15–24% |
 Sweden (details)
|
27% | 73% | 76% | 58% | 25% | 46–85% |
 Switzerland (details)
|
11.9% | 58% | 47% | 17–27% | ||
 Taiwan
|
12.7% | 24% | ||||
 Tanzania
|
1.4% | 2% | ||||
 Thailand
|
0.3% | 2% | 2% | |||
 Tunisia
|
0.2% | 33% | ||||
 Turkey (details)
|
1.2% | 15% | 75% (anomalous) | 3% | ||
 Uganda (details)
|
0.5% | 1% | ||||
 Ukraine
|
14.7% | 42% | 24% | 23% | 42% | 20% |
 United Kingdom (details)
|
21.3% | 69% | 66% | 31–44% | ||
 United States (details)
|
16.4% | 39% | 39% | 35% | 20% | 3–9% |
 Uruguay (details)
|
40.7% | 12% | ||||
 Uzbekistan
|
0.8% | 18% | ||||
 Venezuela
|
10% | 2% | 27% | |||
 Vietnam
|
29.6% | 63% | 54% | 65% | 46% | 81% |
By population
The Pew Research Centre in the table below reflects "religiously unaffiliated" which "include atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion in surveys".
The Zuckerman data on the table below only reflect the number of people who have an absence of belief in a deity only (atheists, agnostics). Does not include the broader number of people who do not identify with a religion such as deists, spiritual but not religious, pantheists, New Age spiritualism, etc.
| Country | Pew (2012)[15] | Zuckerman (2004)[16][17] |
|---|---|---|
| China
|
700,680,000 | 103,907,840 – 181,838,720 |
| India
|
102,870,000 | |
| Japan
|
72,120,000 | 81,493,120 – 82,766,450 |
| Vietnam
|
26,040,000 | 66,978,900 |
| Russia
|
23,180,000 | 34,507,680 – 69,015,360 |
| Germany
|
20,350,000 | 33,794,250 – 40,388,250 |
| France
|
17,580,000 | 25,982,320 – 32,628,960 |
| United Kingdom
|
18,684,010 – 26,519,240 | |
| South Korea
|
22,350,000 | 14,579,400 – 25,270,960 |
| Ukraine
|
9,546,400 | |
| United States
|
50,980,000 | 8,790,840 – 26,822,520 |
| Netherlands
|
6,364,020 – 7,179,920 | |
| Canada
|
6,176,520 – 9,752,400 | |
| Spain
|
6,042,150 – 9,667,440 | |
| Taiwan
|
5,460,000 | |
 Hong Kong
|
5,240,000 | |
| Czech Republic
|
5,328,940 – 6,250,121 | |
| Australia
|
4,779,120 – 4,978,250 | |
| Belgium
|
4,346,160 – 4,449,640 | |
| Sweden
|
4,133,560 – 7,638,100 | |
| Italy
|
3,483,420 – 8,708,550 | |
| North Korea
|
17,350,000 | 3,404,700 |
| Hungary
|
3,210,240 – 4,614,720 | |
| Bulgaria
|
2,556,120 – 3,007,200 | |
| Denmark
|
2,327,590 – 4,330,400 | |
| Turkey
|
1,956,990 - 6,320,550 | |
| Belarus
|
1,752,870 | |
| Greece
|
1,703,680 | |
| Kazakhstan
|
1,665,840 – 1,817,280 | |
| Argentina
|
1,565,800 – 3,131,600 | |
| Austria
|
1,471,500 – 2,125,500 | |
| Finland
|
1,460,200 – 3,129,000 | |
| Norway
|
1,418,250 – 3,294,000 | |
| Switzerland
|
1,266,670 – 2,011,770 | |
| Israel
|
929,850 – 2,293,630 | |
| New Zealand
|
798,800 – 878,680 | |
| Cuba
|
791,630 | |
| Slovenia
|
703,850 – 764,180 | |
| Estonia
|
657,580 | |
| Dominican Republic
|
618,380 | |
| Singapore
|
566,020 | |
| Slovakia
|
542,400 – 1,518,720 | |
| Lithuania
|
469,040 | |
| Latvia
|
461,200 – 668,740 | |
| Portugal
|
420,960 – 947,160 | |
| Armenia
|
118,740 | |
| Uruguay
|
407,880 | |
| Kyrgyzstan
|
355,670 | |
| Croatia
|
314,790 | |
| Albania
|
283,600 | |
| Mongolia
|
247,590 | |
| Iceland
|
47,040 – 67,620 | |
| Brazil
|
15,410,000 |
See also
References
- ^ "Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ "Global Index of Religion and Atheism" (PDF). WIN/Gallup International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
- ^ a b "Losing our Religion? Two-Thirds of People Still Claim to be Religious" (PDF). WIN/Gallup International. 13 April 2015.
- ^ "Religion prevails in the world" (PDF). Gallup International. 14 November 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ "Religiously Unaffiliated". The Global Religious Landscape. Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life. 18 December 2012.
The religiously unaffiliated include atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion in surveys. However, many of the religiously unaffiliated have some religious beliefs...Some of the unaffiliated also engage in certain kinds of religious practices.
- ^ a b Zuckerman, Phil (2006). "Atheism: Contemporary Numbers and Patterns". In Martin, Michael (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 47–66. ISBN 9780521842709.
- ^ a b Keysar, Ariela; Navarro-Rivera, Juhem (2017). "36. A World of Atheism: Global Demographics". In Bullivant, Stephen; Ruse, Michael (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Atheism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199644650.
- ^ "The Cambridge Companion to Atheism - PDF Drive".
- ^ "81-F77-Aeb-A404-447-C-8-B95-Dd57-Adc11-E98".
- ^ "Global Religious Landscape" (PDF). Pew Research Center. 18 December 2012. pp. 45–50.
- ^ "Religion prevails in the world" (PDF). Gallup International. 14 November 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ "WIN-Gallup International 'Religiosity and Atheism Index' reveals atheists are a small minority in the early years of 21st century". WIN-Gallup International. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "GLOBAL INDEX OF RELIGIOSITY AND ATHEISM – 2012" (PDF). WIN-Gallup International. 27 July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Dentsu Communication Institute 電通総研・日本リサーチセンター編「世界60カ国価値観データブック (in Japanese)
- ^ "Religiously Unaffiliated". 18 December 2012.
- ^ "The Cambridge Companion to Atheism - PDF Drive".
- ^ "81-F77-Aeb-A404-447-C-8-B95-Dd57-Adc11-E98".
External links
Media related to Irreligion by country at Wikimedia Commons
