Religious Demographics: Countries with Dominant Faiths | Pew Research Center
- Global religious diversity levels remained largely stable between 2010 and 2020, though significant variations exist from country to country, according to a new report from the Pew Research...
- The report, titled “Religious Diversity Around the World,” examines the distribution of seven major religious groups – Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, adherents of other religions, and the...
- Singapore emerged as the world’s most religiously diverse country as of 2020.
Religious Diversity Varies Significantly Across the Globe, Pew Research Finds
Global religious diversity levels remained largely stable between 2010 and 2020, though significant variations exist from country to country, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center released on .
The report, titled “Religious Diversity Around the World,” examines the distribution of seven major religious groups – Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, adherents of other religions, and the religiously unaffiliated – across countries and territories, representing 99.98% of the world’s population. It utilizes a Religious Diversity Index (RDI), a mathematical formula borrowed from ecology and economics, to quantify these differences.
Singapore emerged as the world’s most religiously diverse country as of . However, when considering only the ten most populous nations, the United States ranks first in religious diversity, according to the report.
The research is part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies worldwide. It builds upon previously published estimates of the world’s religious composition, initially released in .
The report highlights that in the majority of countries, a single religious group dominates. Specifically, countries and territories have at least 50% of their population identifying with one religious category. This includes countries with a population that is at least 95% Muslim, that are at least 95% Christian, and that is at least 95% Buddhist.
While diversity levels didn’t dramatically shift between and , the report notes that in many of the world’s most religiously diverse places, Christians often constitute the largest single group.
The Pew Research Center’s analysis relies on estimates for covering countries and territories. The methodology involves calculating the religious diversity of each area based on the size of the seven religious groups mentioned above. The report’s findings are detailed in a sortable table providing religious diversity data by country from to .
Further details about the research, including methodology and an appendix listing countries with a large majority by religion, are available on the Pew Research Center website.