A new global survey on faith and atheism released by WIN-Gallup International (not related to Gallup Inc., Washington, DC) says the number of people worldwide who call themselves religious is now 59%, while 13% self-identify as atheist — a drop of 9% and increase of 3% respectively compared with a 2005 study.
The poll — based on interviews with more than 50,000 people from 57 countries — asked participants, “irrespective of whether they attended a place of worship, if they considered themselves to be religious, not religious, or an atheist.”
The top 10 religious populations:
1. Ghana
2. Nigeria
3. Armenia
4. Fiji
5. Macedonia
6. Romania
7. Iraq
8. Kenya
9. Peru
10. Brazil
Top 10 Atheist Populations:
1. China
2. Japan
3. Czech Republic
4. France
5. Korea, Rep (South)
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. Austria
9. Iceland
10. Australia
11. Ireland
Ireland has the second greatest drop globally, in those claiming to be religious since 2005. In Ireland, only 47% of those polled say they consider themselves religious — a 22-point drop from the 69% recorded in a similar poll conducted in 2005. Ten percent self-identify as atheist. The only country that registered a steeper decline in religiosity is Vietnam, which has a 23-point drop from 53% to 30%.
Read the report (pdf).
Also see our previous blogposts, “The Global Church: Shift in the Christian Landscape,” “Christianity: World’s Largest Religion,” and other posts tagged “Religion.” Another resource of trending religion statistics is the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project.
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