List of countries by irreligion
Irreligion, which may include deism, agnosticism, ignosticism, antireligion, atheism, skepticism, ietsism, spiritual but not religious, freethought, antitheism, apatheism, non-belief, pandeism, secular humanism, non-religious theism, pantheism and panentheism, varies in the different countries around the world. In a 2014 poll 33% of the world population were estimated to be atheist or not religious, splitting into 11% atheists and 22% not religious.[2]
Methods
Each poll uses different questions and methods.
- The WIN-Gallup International Association (WIN/GIA) poll asked "Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person or a convinced atheist?" The results below are the totals for "not a religious person" and "a convinced atheist". Polling was face-to-face in 31 countries, by telephone in 12 and online in 22.
- Dentsu Communication Institute provides data for respondents who stated that they have "no religion".
- Phil Zuckerman uses only the number who describe themselves as atheist or agnostic.
The numbers come from different years, and might not be accurate for countries with governments that require or urge religion or secularism.
Countries
| Country | WIN/GIA[3] (2014) |
WIN/GIA[4][5] (2012) |
Dentsu[6] (2006) |
Zuckerman[7] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan (details)
|
9% | 15% | ||
 Albania (details)
|
8% | |||
 Argentina
|
20% | 26% | 13% | 4–8% |
 Armenia
|
5% | 5% | 34% | |
 Australia (details)
|
58% | 58% | 24–25% | |
 Austria
|
54% | 53% | 12% | 18–26% |
 Azerbaijan (details)
|
54% | 51% | ||
 Bangladesh (details)
|
5% | |||
 Belarus
|
48% | 17% | ||
 Belgium (details)
|
48% | 34% | 35% | 42–43% |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
32% | 29% | ||
 Brazil (details)
|
18% | 14% | ||
 Bulgaria (details)
|
39% | 30% | 30% | 34–40% |
 Cameroon
|
17% | |||
 Canada (details)
|
53% | 49% | 26% | 19–30% |
 Chile
|
34% | |||
 China (details)
|
90% | 77% | 93% | 8–14% |
 Colombia
|
17% | 15% | ||
 Croatia
|
13% | 7% | ||
 Cuba
|
7% | |||
 Czech Republic (details)
|
75% | 78% | 64% | 54–61% |
 Denmark (details)
|
52% | 10% | 43–80% | |
 Dominican Republic
|
7% | |||
 Ecuador
|
28% | 29% | ||
 Estonia (details)
|
76% | 49% | ||
 Fiji
|
7% | 6% | ||
 Finland (details)
|
42% | 44% | 12% | 28–60% |
 France (details)
|
53% | 63% | 43% | 43–54% |
 Georgia (details)
|
7% | 13% | ||
 Germany (details)
|
59% | 48% | 25% | 41–49% |
 Ghana (details)
|
2% | |||
 Greece
|
21% | 4% | 16% | |
 Hong Kong
|
70% | 60% | ||
 Hungary
|
43% | 32–46% | ||
 Iceland (details)
|
44% | 41% | 4% | 16–23% |
 India (details)
|
23% | 16% | 7% | |
 Indonesia (details)
|
15% | |||
 Iran (details)
|
1% | |||
 Iraq (details)
|
9% | |||
 Ireland (details)
|
51% | 54% | 7% | |
 Israel (details)
|
65% | 15–37% | ||
 Italy
|
24% | 23% | 18% | 6–15% |
 Japan (details)
|
62% | 62% | 52% | 64–65% |
 Kazakhstan
|
11–12% | |||
 Kenya (details)
|
9% | 11% | ||
 Kosovo
|
8% | |||
 Kyrgyzstan
|
7% | |||
 Latvia
|
50% | 41% | 20–29% | |
 Lebanon (details)
|
18% | 35% | ||
 Lithuania
|
23% | 19% | 13% | |
 Luxembourg
|
30% | |||
 Macedonia
|
10% | 9% | ||
 Malaysia
|
23% | 13% | ||
 Malta
|
1% | |||
 Mexico (details)
|
28% | 21% | ||
 Moldova
|
10% | |||
 Mongolia
|
9% | |||
 Morocco (details)
|
5% | |||
 Netherlands (details)
|
66% | 56% | 55% | 39–44% |
 New Zealand (details)
|
20–22% | |||
 Nigeria (details)
|
16% | 5% | 1% | |
 North Korea
|
15% | |||
 Norway(details)
|
31–72% | |||
 Pakistan (details)
|
11% | 10% | ||
 Palestinian territories
|
19% | 33% | ||
 Papua New Guinea
|
4% | |||
 Peru
|
13% | 11% | 5% | |
 Philippines (details)
|
22% | 11% | ||
 Poland (details)
|
12% | 14% | 5% | |
 Portugal
|
37% | 11% | 4–9% | |
 Puerto Rico
|
11% | |||
 Romania (details)
|
17% | 7% | 2% | |
 Russia (details)
|
23% | 32% | 48% | 24–48% |
 Saudi Arabia (details)
|
24% | |||
 Serbia
|
21% | 19% | ||
 Singapore (details)
|
13% | |||
 Slovakia
|
23% | 10–28% | ||
 Slovenia
|
30% | 35–38% | ||
 South Africa (details)
|
32% | 11% | ||
 South Korea (details)
|
55% | 46% | 37% | 30–52% |
 South Sudan
|
16% | |||
 Spain (details)
|
55% | 47% | 16% | 15–24% |
 Sweden (details)
|
76% | 58% | 25% | 46–85% |
 Switzerland (details)
|
58% | 47% | 17–27% | |
 Taiwan
|
24% | |||
 Tanzania
|
2% | |||
 Thailand
|
2% | |||
 Tunisia
|
22% | |||
 Turkey (details)
|
15% | 75% | 3% | |
 Uganda (details)
|
1% | |||
 Ukraine
|
24% | 23% | 42% | 20% |
 United Kingdom (details)
|
66% | 31–44% | ||
 United States (details)
|
39% | 35% | 20% | 3–9% |
 Uruguay (details)
|
12% | |||
 Uzbekistan
|
18% | |||
 Venezuela
|
27% | |||
 Vietnam
|
54% | 65% | 46% | 81% |
By population as of 2004
Countries with the greatest number of people without religion (including agnostics and atheists) based on the total population of each country as of 2004 and the percentage of nonreligious people according to Zuckerman:[7]
| Country | People without religion |
|---|---|
| China |
103,907,840 – 181,838,720 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
418,740 |
| Uruguay |
407,880 |
| Kyrgyzstan |
355,670 |
| Croatia |
314,790 |
| Albania |
283,600 |
| Mongolia |
247,590 |
| Iceland |
47,040 – 67,620 |
| India |
2,870,000 |
See also
References
- ^ Based on the data of the Dentsu Communication Institute and the data of Zuckerman. Largest values taken.
- ^ Win Gallup International (2015). "Losing our religion? Two thirds of people still claim to be religious" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "End of Year Survey 2014: Regional & Country Results". WIN-Gallup International. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
- ^ "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. 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 Template:Ja icon
- ^ 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.