India has been ranked the 18th most religious country in the world with over 81 percent citizens claiming to have religious sentiments, according to a latest survey.

The polls results released by the Win-Gallup International Religiosity and Atheism Index showed that only 13 percent Indians considered themselves as "not religious" while 3 percent claimed themselves as "convinced atheists".

According to the survey, percentage change in atheism in India was found to be -1 percent, while the percentage change in religiosity was recorded to be -6 percent.

The poll showed that China had the maximum number of atheists at 47 percent, followed by Japan with 31 percent, Czech Republic with 30 percent and France with 29 percent.

Ghana was found to be the most religious country in the world with 96 percent of the people believing in religion, followed by Nigeria with 93 percent.

The survey also indicated that globally the number of people claiming to be religious dropped by 9 percent while atheism rose by 3 percent.

The poll, conducted during November 2011 and January 2012, was based on interviews with 52 000 men and women from 57 countries in five continents.

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