MAJORITY RELIGION BY COUNTRY

Data for maps compiled by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life in December 2012.

Darker colors indicate higher percentages of population.

Religious groups’ percentage of the global population

GROWTH PROJECTIONS

The percentage of people in the world who consider themselves religious is about 63 percent. The percentage who consider themselves atheists (mostly in China) is about 11 percent.

Notable trends

The percentage of Muslims in the world will rise from 23.2 percent in 2010 to 29.7 percent in 2050 and the percentage of Christians will stay the same at 31.5 percent.

In the United States, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters of the population in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050, and Judaism will no longer be the largest non-Christian religion. Muslims will be more numerous in the U.S. than people who identify as Jews on the basis of religion.

India will retain a Hindu majority but also will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia.

RELIGION IN DECLINE According to Gallup these 10 countries experienced the most notable decline in religiosity from 2005 to 2012. Country 2005 2012 Percent change

Vietnam 53% 30% -23%

Switzerland 71% 50% -21%

France 58% 37% -21%

South Africa 83% 64% -19%

Iceland 74% 57% -17%

Ecuador 85% 70% -15%

United States 73% 60% -13%

Canada 58% 46% -12%

Austria 52% 42% -10%

Germany 60% 51% -9% Global avg. 77% 68% -9%

MOST RELIGIOUS COUNTRIES

Top 10 countries that have the highest percentage of people who say they are religious:

Ghana 96%

Nigeria 93%

Armenia 92%

Fiji 92%

Macedonia 90%

Romania 89%

Iraq 88%

Kenya 88%

Peru 86%

Brazil 85%

Sources: The Future of World Religions; Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Pew Research Center