Religion by Country 2022

Religion is a system of belief or worship that shapes how an individual perceives, thinks about, and interacts with the world. Often, a person’s religion serves as the primary source of ethical and moral views.

For many believers, religion provides immense comfort, if not the purpose. Numerous faiths are practiced around the globe.

Although faiths are sometimes opposed in their theology and practice, one might argue that most of them center on two near-universal themes: how to behave on Earth and what to anticipate after death.

Most faiths instill confidence in a greater power, whether that power is one’s spirituality, nature, the God/YHWH/Allah of Christians, Jews, and Muslims, or the Hindu deities Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Shakti, and Surya.

What percentage of the world’s population adheres to a different religion?

Calculating the actual number of faiths in the world is a difficult, if not impossible, process. Numerous faiths might be difficult to distinguish for someone unfamiliar with their theology.

More significantly, criteria defining what constitutes a legitimately distinct religion versus a denomination (subdivision) are uncommon, if not nonexistent.

To take Christianity as an example, whereas the practices and beliefs of a historic Mennonite church are very different from those of a contemporary Vineyard or Assembly of God church, both are nevertheless recognized as Christian.

In contrast, despite its historical ties to Islam, Sikhism is often regarded as a distinct faith in its own right.

On a comparable but lesser scale, the border between a spiritual but non-religious experience or an actual religion may vary according to the individual—for example, some people regard New Age activities, Wicca, and even some types of yoga to be religions, while others do not.

According to one widely accepted estimate, around 4000-4300 faiths worldwide. However, this figure is strongly contested.

To begin, it encompasses defunct belief systems that are no longer practiced.

Additionally, it counts each of a religion’s numerous denominations separately—so Christianity, for example, would be included as hundreds of religions: Protestant, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian, Assembly of God, Seventh Day Adventist, and Mormon, to name a few.

The population of the World by Religion

Around 85 percent of the world’s population self-identifies as religious. Christianity is the most widely practiced religion, with an estimated 2.38 billion adherents worldwide.

Islam is the second-largest religion, with around 1.91 billion adherents. By 2050, demographic analysts say, Islam, will have almost equaled Christianity. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and two umbrella categories are also assessed and predicted.

The first category is “folk religions,” including traditional African religions, Chinese folk religions, and aboriginal faiths from North America and Australia.

The second category is “other religions,” including minorities such as Shintoism, Taoism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Finally, a sizable population—nearly 1.2 billion individuals worldwide—remains agnostic or has Atheist views.

The following table summarised the overall expected population of each religion in 2020:

1. Christianity – 2.38 billion
2. Islam – 1.91 billion
3. Hinduism – 1.16 billion
4. Buddhism – 507 million
5. Folk Religions – 430 million
6. Other Religions – 61 million
7. Judaism – 14.6 million
8. Unaffiliated – 1.19 billion

Christianity

Christianity is the world’s biggest religion, with almost 2.4 billion adherents. Christianity is split into Eastern and Western theology, with other branches like Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy existing within these boundaries.

These branches then split into the hundreds of denominations today, including Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons, and Amish.

The Vatican City and the Pitcairn Islands have a Christian majority. At least 93 percent of the population in some other countries is Christian.

Vatican City, Pitcairn Islands, American Samoa, Armenia, Barbados, East Timor, El Salvador, Greece, Kiribati, Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Samoa, San Marino, Tonga, and Venezuela are among the countries with at least 93% Christian inhabitants.

Islam

Islam is the world’s second-biggest religion by the number of adherents. Muslims are individuals who adhere to Islam. In the Maldives, Mauritania, and Saudi Arabia, Islam is practiced by 100% of the population. At least 95 percent of the population self-identifies as Sunni or Shi’a Muslim in several countries.

Maldives, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Algeria, Comoros, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen are Muslim-majority countries. Worldwide, there are 50 Muslim-majority nations.

Hinduism

Hinduism is the world’s third-biggest religion. Hinduism is seen as a kind of dharma, or way of life. It started in India and is now extensively practiced across Southeast Asia.

Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism are the four major denominations. India, unsurprisingly, has the greatest Hindu population but not the highest Hindu proportion.

There are an estimated 1.093 billion Hindus in India, accounting for around 79.8% of the population. Nepal has the second-largest Hindu population globally, at 28.6, accounting for around 81.3 percent of the population.

India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the United States, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and Mauritius are countries having a sizable Hindu population.

Buddhism

Buddhism, like Hinduism, began in India and is founded on Buddha’s teachings. Buddhists have their traditions, morals, and beliefs, including those about rebirth. Around 507 million people worldwide practice Buddhism.

China has the highest Buddhist population, with 254.7 million, followed by Thailand (66.1 million), Burma (Myanmar), and Japan (41.44 million).

Also See: Protestant Countries 2022

Cambodia has the greatest Buddhist population at 97.9 percent, followed by Thailand (94.6 percent) and Burma (Myanmar) at 87.9 percent. Cambodia, Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Laos, Mongolia, and Bhutan have the greatest percentages of Buddhists.

Additional Religions

Traditional Chinese faiths such as Confucianism and Taoism are practiced in several countries. This is most prevalent in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Numerous nations follow ethical and indigenous faiths.

In Guinea-Bissau and Haiti, almost half of the population practices one of these faiths. Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan, and Togo are more states where ethnic and indigenous faiths are practiced.

Atheist or Unaffiliated

Finally, as already said, many individuals are agnostic or atheists. This is especially evident in Estonia, the Czech Republic, China, and Japan, where almost three-quarters of the population has abandoned religious activity.

China, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Japan, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Macau, Norway, Sweden, and Vietnam are countries with a large proportion of unaffiliated/atheist inhabitants.