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 and panentheism, 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" while in 2012, 23% were not a religious person and an additional 13% were "convinced atheists";[2] in 2015, 22% were not a religious person and an additional 11% were "convinced atheists";[3] and in 2017, 25% were not a religious person and an additional 9% were "convinced atheists".[4]
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.[5] 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 having the most atheists in the world (200 million convinced atheists).[6]
Methods
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 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. For example, the WIN/GIA numbers from China were overestimated which in turn inflated global totals.[6]
| Country or region | WIN/GIA
(2017)[7] |
WIN/GIA[3] (2015) |
WIN/GIA[8][9] (2012) |
Dentsu[10] (2006) |
Zuckerman[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan (details)
|
9% | 15% | |||
 Albania (details)
|
39% | 8% | |||
 Argentina
|
34% | 20% | 26% | 13% | 4–8% |
 Armenia
|
6% | 5% | 5% | 34% | |
 Australia (details)
|
63% | 58% | 58% | 24–25% | |
 Austria
|
53% | 54% | 53% | 12% | 18–26% |
 Azerbaijan (details)
|
64% | 54% | 51% | ||
 Bangladesh (details)
|
19% | 5% | |||
 Belarus
|
48% | 17% | |||
 Belgium (details)
|
64% | 48% | 34% | 35% | 42–43% |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
22% | 32% | 29% | ||
 Brazil (details)
|
17% | 18% | 14% | ||
 Bulgaria (details)
|
39% | 39% | 30% | 30% | 34–40% |
 Cameroon
|
17% | ||||
 Canada (details)
|
57% | 53% | 49% | 26% | 19–30% |
 Chile
|
34% | ||||
 China (details)
|
90% | 90% | 77% | 93% | 8–14% |
 Colombia
|
14% | 17% | 15% | ||
 DR Congo
|
17% | ||||
 Croatia (details)
|
13% | 7% | |||
 Cuba
|
7% | ||||
 Czech Republic (details)
|
72% | 75% | 78% | 64% | 54–61% |
 Denmark (details)
|
61% | 52% | 10% | 43–80% | |
 Dominican Republic
|
7% | ||||
 Ecuador
|
18% | 28% | 29% | ||
 Estonia (details)
|
60% | 76% | 49% | ||
 Fiji
|
8% | 7% | 6% | ||
 Finland (details)
|
55% | 42% | 44% | 12% | 28–60% |
 France (details)
|
50% | 53% | 63% | 43% | 43–54% |
 Georgia (details)
|
7% | 13% | |||
 Germany (details)
|
60% | 59% | 48% | 25% | 41–49% |
 Ghana (details)
|
1% | 2% | |||
 Greece
|
22% | 21% | 4% | 16% | |
 Hong Kong
|
63% | 70% | 60% | ||
 Hungary
|
43% | 32–46% | |||
 Iceland (details)
|
49% | 44% | 41% | 4% | 16–23% |
 India (details)
|
5% | 23% | 16% | 7% | 9.11% |
 Indonesia (details)
|
30% | 15% | |||
 Iran (details)
|
20% | 1% | |||
 Iraq (details)
|
34% | 9% | |||
 Ireland (details)
|
56% | 51% | 54% | 7% | |
 Israel (details)
|
58% | 65% | 15–37% | ||
 Italy (details)
|
26% | 24% | 23% | 18% | 6–15% |
 Japan (details)
|
60% | 62% | 62% | 52% | 64–65% |
 Kazakhstan (details)
|
11–12% | ||||
 Kenya (details)
|
9% | 11% | |||
 Kosovo
|
3% | 8% | |||
 Kyrgyzstan
|
7% | ||||
 Latvia
|
52% | 50% | 41% | 20–29% | |
 Lebanon (details)
|
28% | 18% | 35% | ||
 Lithuania
|
40% | 23% | 19% | 13% | |
 Luxembourg
|
30% | ||||
 Malaysia
|
23% | 13% | |||
 Malta
|
1% | ||||
 Mexico (details)
|
36% | 28% | |||
 Moldova
|
10% | ||||
 Mongolia
|
29% | 9% | |||
 Morocco (details)
|
5% | ||||
 Netherlands (details)
|
66% | 56% | 55% | 39–44% | |
 New Zealand (details)
|
20–22% | ||||
 Nigeria (details)
|
2% | 16% | 5% | 1% | |
 North Korea
|
15% | ||||
 North Macedonia
|
11% | 10% | 9% | ||
 Norway (details)
|
62% | 31–72% | |||
 Pakistan (details)
|
6% | 11% | 10% | ||
 Palestinian territories
|
35% | 19% | 33% | ||
 Panama
|
13% | ||||
 Papua New Guinea
|
5% | 4% | |||
 Peru
(details) |
23% | 13% | 11% | 5% | |
 Philippines (details)
|
9% | 22% | 11% | ||
 Poland (details)
|
10% | 12% | 14% | 5% | |
 Portugal
|
38% | 37% | 11% | 4–9% | |
 Puerto Rico
|
11% | ||||
 Romania (details)
|
9% | 17% | 7% | 2% | |
 Russia (details)
|
30% | 23% | 32% | 48% | 24–48% |
 Saudi Arabia (details)
|
24% | ||||
 Serbia
|
21% | 21% | 19% | ||
 Singapore (details)
|
13% | ||||
 Slovakia
|
23% | 10–28% | |||
 Slovenia
|
53% | 30% | 35–38% | ||
 South Africa (details)
|
32% | 11% | |||
 South Korea (details)
|
60% | 55% | 46% | 37% | 30–52% |
 South Sudan
|
16% | ||||
 Spain (details)
|
57% | 55% | 47% | 16% | 15–24% |
 Sweden (details)
|
73% | 76% | 58% | 25% | 46–85% |
 Switzerland (details)
|
58% | 47% | 17–27% | ||
 Taiwan
|
24% | ||||
 Tanzania
|
2% | ||||
 Thailand
|
2% | 2% | |||
 Tunisia
|
33% | ||||
 Turkey (details)
|
15% | 75% | 3% | ||
 Uganda (details)
|
1% | ||||
 Ukraine
|
42% | 24% | 23% | 42% | 20% |
 United Kingdom (details)
|
69% | 66% | 31–44% | ||
 United States (details)
|
39% | 39% | 35% | 20% | 3–9% |
 Uruguay (details)
|
12% | ||||
 Uzbekistan
|
18% | ||||
 Venezuela
|
2% | 27% | |||
 Vietnam
|
63% | 54% | 65% | 46% | 81% |
By population as of 2004
Countries with the greatest number of people without religion (atheists and agnostics), based on the total population of each country as of 2004 and the percentage of non-religious people according to Zuckerman:[5]
| Country | People without religion |
|---|---|
| China |
103,907,840 – 181,838,720 |
| India |
102,870,000 |
| Japan |
81,493,120 – 82,766,450 |
| Vietnam |
66,978,900 |
| Russia |
34,507,680 – 69,015,360 |
| Germany |
33,794,250 – 40,388,250 |
| France |
25,982,320 – 32,628,960 |
| United Kingdom |
18,684,010 – 26,519,240 |
| South Korea |
14,579,400 – 25,270,960 |
| Ukraine |
9,546,400 |
| United States |
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 |
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 |
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. WIN/Gallup International. 13 April 2015.
- ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). 14 November 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- ^ a b c 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 0199644659.
- ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). 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)
