This is a list of religious populations by number of adherents and countries.

Adherents in 2020

Prevailing religious population by country percentage

Notes

By proportion

Christians

Countries and territories with the greatest proportion of

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

from Christianity by country, : Christianity percent population in each nation World Map Christian data by Pew Research

# 100% (100%

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

) # 100% (100%

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

) # ~99% (mostly

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

) # 99.6% (mostly Roman Catholic) # 98.5% (96% Armenian Orthodox Apostolic) # 98.3% (mostly Protestant) # 98.1% (mostly Roman Catholic) # 98% (71% Roman Catholic) # 98% (95%

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

) # 97.2% (mostly Protestant) # 97.2% (mostly Protestant) # 97% (~97% Roman Catholic) # 96.9% (mostly Roman Catholic) # 96.4% (mostly Roman Catholic) # 96% (mostly Protestant) # ~96% (mostly Protestant) # 95.1% (mostly Protestant) # 94.8% (mostly Protestant) # 94.6% (mostly Roman Catholic) # 94.51% (mostly Roman Catholic) # 93% (mostly

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates ...

) # 92.9% (mostly Roman Catholic) # 91.1% (mostly Roman Catholic) # 90% (mostly Roman Catholic)

Muslims

Countries with a considerable proportion of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

from

Islam by country Adherents of Islam constitute the world's second largest religious group. According to an estimation in 2022, Islam has 1.97 billion adherents, making up about 25% of the world population. A projection by the PEW suggests that Muslims numbe ...

, excluding foreign workers in brackets: Data is based on the

Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the wor ...

Islam percent population in each nation World Map Muslim data by Pew Research

# 100% # 100% # ~100% #

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

99.9% # 99.9% # 99.8% (65%

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

33.5%

Zaydi Zaydism (''h'') is a unique branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali‘s unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. In contrast to other Shia Muslims of Twelver Shi'ism and Isma'ilism, Zaydis, ...

1.5%

Ismaili Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al ...

) # 99.7% (90% Sunni 10% Shi'a) # 99.6% (95%

Shi'a Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

, 5% Sunni) # 99.5% # 99.2% (Shi'a) # 99% (67% Shi'a, 33% Sunni) # 99% (mostly Sunni) # 98.6% (85% Sunni, 15% Shi’a) # 98.3% # 98% # 97.2% (90% Sunni, 10% Shi'a) # 97% # 96.9% # 96.6% # 96.4% (85% Sunni 12% Shi'a 3% Other) # 90.4% # 89.3% # 86.7% # 61.3% # 53.5% # 41% # 14%

Irreligious and atheist

Countries with the greatest proportion of people without religion, including agnostics and atheists, from

Irreligion by country Irreligion, which may include deism, agnosticism, ignosticism, anti-religion, atheism, skepticism, ietsism, spiritual but not religious, freethought, anti-theism, apatheism, non-belief, pandeism, secular humanism, non-religious theism, p ...

(): # (78.4%) # (71.3%) # (60.2%) # (60%) # (54.7%) # (51.8%) # (46.6%) # (45.3%) # (44.3%) # (41.5%) # (39.6%) # (36.5%) # (35.5%) # (31.9%) # (31.2%) # (31%) # (29.9%) # (29%) # (28.6%) # (28.6%) # (28%) # (26.7%) # (26.3%) # (23.9%) # (23.2%) # (22.8%) # (20.8%) # (20%) # (18.8%) Data is ranked by mean estimate in parentheses. Irreligious includes

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

people, and those having no formal religious adherence. It does not necessarily mean that those of this group don't belong to any religion. Some religions have harmonized with local cultures and can be seen as a cultural background rather than a formal religion. Additionally, the practice of officially associating a family or household with a religion, while not formally practicing the affiliated religion, is common in many countries. Thus, over half of this group is theistic and/or influenced by religious principles, but nonreligious/non-practicing and not true atheists or agnostics. See ''

Spiritual but not religious "Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), also known as "spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA), is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that does not regard organized religion as the sole or most valuable ...

''.

Hindus

Countries with the greatest proportion of

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

from

Hinduism by country Hinduism has approximately 1.2 billion adherents worldwide (15-16% of the world's population). Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world behind Christianity (31.5%) and Islam (23.3%). # 81.3% # 79.8% # 48.54% # 27.9% # 25% # 24.8% # 22.3% # 18.2% # 15% # 12.6% # 12% # 9.6% # 8.1% # 6.7% # 6.3% # 5.1% # 3% # 2.1% # 2.0% # 2.2% # 1.7% # 1.7% # 1.5% # 0.7%

Buddhists

Countries with the greatest proportion of

Buddhists Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

from

Buddhism by country This list of Buddhism by country shows the distribution of the Buddhist religion, practiced by about 535 million people as of the 2010s, representing 7% to 8% of the world's total population. Buddhism is the dominant religion in Bhutan, Myanmar ...

Buddhism percent population in each nation World Map Buddhist data by Pew Research

# 96.9% # 93.2% # 80.1% # 74.70% # 69.3% # 66.0% # 55.1% # 36.2% - 66.7% # 35.1% # 33.2% # 22.9% # 19.8% # 18.2% # 17.3% # 16.4% # 13.2% # 10.3%

Taoists/Confucianists/Chinese traditional religionists

As a spiritual practice, Taoism has made fewer inroads in the West than Buddhism and Hinduism. Despite the popularity of its great classics the ''

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zh ...

'' and the ''

Tao Te Ching The ''Tao Te Ching'' (, ; ) is a Chinese classic text written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion ...

'', the practice of Taoism has not been promulgated in America with much success; these religions are not ubiquitous worldwide in the way that adherents of bigger world religions are, and they remain primarily an ethnic religion. Nonetheless, Taoist ideas and symbols such as

Taijitu In Chinese philosophy, a ''taijitu'' () is a symbol or diagram () representing Taiji () in both its monist ('' wuji'') and its dualist (yin and yang) aspects. Such a diagram was first introduced by Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhou Dunyi (; 1 ...

have become popular throughout the world through

Tai Chi Chuan Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. T ...

Qigong ''Qigong'' (), ''qi gong'', ''chi kung'', ''chi 'ung'', or ''chi gung'' () is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training. With roots in ...

, and various

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

. # 33–80% # 30% # 28% # 13.9% # 8.5% # 2.6% # 0.2–1% # # 0.01–0.05% # 0.05% The Chinese traditional religion has 184,000 believers in Latin America, 250,000 believers in Europe, and 839,000 believers in North America .

Ethnic and indigenous

Indigenous statistics come from the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

International Religious Freedom Report The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–292, as amended by Public Law 106–55, Public Law 106–113, Public Law 107–228, Public Law 108–332, and Public Law 108–458) was passed to promote religious freedom as a forei ...

(2009), based on the highest estimate of people identified as indigenous or followers of indigenous religions that have been well-defined. Due to the

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

nature of these religions, the numbers may not reflect the actual number of practitioners. # 32.9% # 30.9% # 29.5% # 35.6% # 25% # 25% # 17.9% # 20% # 15% # 15% # 12% # 10% # 10% # 10% # 10% # 10% # 9% # 9% # 8.5% # 5%

Sikhism

Countries with the greatest proportion of

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The ter ...

: # 2.12% # 1.72% # 1.1%https://acninternational.org/religiousfreedomreport/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Cyprus.pdf # 0.88% # 0.88% # 0.83% # 0.66% # 0.60%https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/kuwait-to-seek-closure-of-illegal-sikh-temple/212050 # 0.57% # 0.44% The Sikh homeland is the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

state, in India, where Sikhs make up approximately 58% of the population. This is the only place where Sikhs are in the majority. Sikhs have emigrated to countries all over the world – especially to English-speaking and East Asian nations. In doing so they have retained, to an unusually high degree, their distinctive cultural and religious identity. Sikhs are not ubiquitous worldwide in the way that adherents of larger world religions are, and they remain primarily an ethnic religion. But they can be found in many international cities and have become an especially strong religious presence in the United Kingdom and Canada. Sikhism is also the fastest growing religion in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Spiritism

# 10.3% # 10.2% # 4.8% # 3.6% # 2.7% # 2.2% # 1.9% # 1.5% # 1.4% # 1.3% # 1.1% # 1.0% # 1.0% # 0.9% # 0.7% # 0.5% # 0.5% # 0.4% # 0.2% # 0.2% Spiritist estimates come from a single source, which gives a relative indication of the size of the Spiritist communities within each country.

Judaism

Countries with the greatest proportion of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

():

# 73.6% # 2.0% # 1.76% # 1.07% # 0.7% # 0.485% # 0.483% # 0.47% # 0.44% # 0.41% # 0.36% # 0.259% # 0.250% # 0.24% # 0.22% # 0.17% # 0.16% # 0.154% # 0.154% # 0.152% # 0.14% # 0.124% # 0.124% # 0.122% # 0.112%

Jainism

# 0.3% # 0.3% # 0.2% # 0.2% # 0.1%

By population

Christians

Largest Christian populations (): # 229,157,250 ''( details)'' # 169,213,130 # 114,198,444 # 106,204,560 # 80,510,000 # 78,790,000 # 67,070,000 # 63,150,000 # 55,832,000 # 51,477,950 # 50,752,580 # 44,502,000 # 41,973,000 # 40,243,000 # 39,560,000 # 38,568,000 # 36,526,000 # 33,625,790 # 33,497,100 # 33,200,417 # 29,943,000 # 28.571.606 # 28,436,000 # 28,340,790 # 27,365,100

Muslims

Largest Muslim populations (as of 2017): # 229,000,000 ''( details)'' # 215,000,000 # 209,000,000 # 153,000,000 # 117,000,000 # 87,500,000 # 82,000,000 # 79,850,000 # 48,000,000 # 44,000,000 # 41,000,000 # 39,000,000 # 38,000,000 # 37,000,000 # 33,000,000 # 33,648,090 # 30,000,000 # 28,000,000 # 25,000,000 # 22,000,000 # 22,000,000

Hindus

Largest Hindu populations (as of 2020): # 1,120,000,000 # 28,600,000 # 14,274,430 # 4,640,000 # 4,400,000 # 3,090,000 # 2,510,000 # 1,940,000 # 1,239,610 # 1,030,000 # 749,870 # 665,820 # 890,000 # 610,000 # 540,000 # 440,000 # 410,000 # 403,570 # 380,000 # 360,000 # 330,000 # 310,000 # 270,000 # 200,000 # 200,000 # 190,000 # 120,785 # 120,000

Buddhists

Largest Buddhist populations # 244,130,000 # 64,420,000 # 45,820,000 # 38,410,000 # 14,450,000 # 14,380,000 # 13,690,000 # 11,050,000 # 9,250,000 # 5,010,000 # 3,800,023 # 2,062,000

Sikhs

Largest Sikh populations # 24,000,000 - 28,000,000 # 771,790 # 524,000 # ~500,000 # 210,397 # 150,000 # 120,000 # 52,000 # 50,000 # 40,908 # 40,000 # 35,540 # 26,000 # 15,000 # 15,000 # 15,000 # 13,280 # 12,000 # 10,000 # 10,000

Jews

Largest Jewish populations (): # 6,451,000 # 5,700,000 # 456,000 # 390,000 # 289,500 # 180,500 # 176,000 # 116,500 # 113,200 # 93,800 # 69,300 # 53,000 # 47,500 # 40,000 # 29,800 # 29,300 # 27,300 # 18,700 # 18,300 # 16,900 # 15,300 # 15,000 # 11,800 # 10,000 # 10,000

Baháʼís

Largest Baháʼí populations () in countries with a national population ≥200,000: # 1,897,651 # 512,864 # 422,782 # 388,802 # 282,916 # 275,069 # 251,127 # 241,112 # 238,532 # 215,359 # 190,419 # 169,811 # 95,098 # 94,499 # 87,259 # 78,915 # 70,504 # 67,549 # 65,096 # 59,898

Jainism

: # 5,146,697 # 79,459 # 68,848 # 35,000 # 12,101 # 9,002 # 6,800 # 2,663 # 2,398 # 2,052 # 1,918 # 1,573 # 1,535 # 1,500 # 1,449 # 1,217 # 1,000 # 981 # 500 families # 229

References

External links

Asian-Nation: Religious Affiliation among Asian Americans

International Religious Freedom Report 2007 of U.S. Department of State

Background Notes of U.S. Department of State

The World Factbook of CIA

Religious Freedom page

Religious Intelligence

BBC News – Muslims in Europe: Country guide

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Religious Populations

Populations Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

Religion by country *

Adherents in 2020

Notes

By proportion

Christians

Muslims

Irreligious and atheist

Hindus

Buddhists

Taoists/Confucianists/Chinese traditional religionists

Ethnic and indigenous

Sikhism

Spiritism

Judaism

Jainism

By population

Christians

Muslims

Hindus

Buddhists

Sikhs

Jews

Baháʼís

Jainism

See also

References

External links