Poor countries are more religious: The American Pew Research Center compared the countries of the world in terms of religiosity and GDP. Belarus in this comparison is more likely to get out of the global trend.

Pew Research Center has studied the level of religiosity in 102 countries. It turned out that, as a rule, the richer the country, the lower the level of religiosity in it. The USA in this comparison turned out to be a unique state, apparently due to a wide range of religious freedoms. There, with a high level of well-being (56 thousand dollars per capita in 2015), there is a high level of religiosity among the population (55% of respondents according to a study of the religious landscape of the USA in 2014 reported that they pray daily).

Poor countries are more religious

In any other rich country surveyed, that is, with GDP per capita of more than $ 30 thousand, less than 40% of adults reported that they pray every day. For example, in Japan, where per capita GDP is about 38 thousand dollars, 33% of the inhabitants pray daily. In Norway, where per capita GDP is about 68 thousand dollars, only 18% of the population resort to daily prayers. However, the survey did not include the rich countries of the Arabian Peninsula, such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which, apparently, have a high level of religiosity.

At the same time, states with less wealth tend to have a higher “prayer” level. In fact, in every country where at least 70% of adults say they pray every day, per capita GDP is less than $ 20,000. For example, in Egypt, where 72% say they pray every day, GDP per capita is about 11 thousand dollars. And in Afghanistan, where 96% of adults say that they pray every day, GDP per capita is about 2 thousand dollars.

These results are generally consistent with other data that suggest that the country’s level of well-being is inversely proportional to its level of religious commitment. This is measured by the answers to the survey about daily prayer, faith in God, visiting religious services and the declared importance of religion in human life. In other words, people in poorer countries tend to be more religious than people in richer countries.

Among all 102 countries surveyed, the number of people who say they pray daily is 49%.

However, researchers at the Pew Research Center note that not every low-income country has a high frequency of daily prayers. In Vietnam and Bulgaria, where per capita GDP is $ 6,000 and $ 19,000, respectively, the proportion of adults who say they pray daily is 14% and 15%.

Belarus belongs to this category of poor and not too religious countries.

With a per capita GDP of more than 6 thousand dollars, the number of people performing daily prayers with us is about 25%. A roughly similar indicator is demonstrated by the majority of post-Soviet states, which continue to move towards a brighter future, mainly without God and money.