Religious affiliation statistics describe how people identify with a religion or with no religion. They do not measure belief, worship, personal conviction, or congregational membership. The figures below cover global estimates for 2020, national surveys and censuses from 2021 through 2024, and longer-term comparisons where available.
Contents
- Global affiliation in 2020
- How affiliation changed from 2010 to 2020
- Age, fertility, and religious switching
- United States religious affiliation in 2023-24
- U.S. trends since 2007
- England and Wales in Census 2021
- Canada in Census 2021
Global affiliation in 2020
Pew Research Center’s global estimates cover 201 countries and territories and combine census and survey sources. In 2020, Christians accounted for 28.8% of the world’s population. Muslims accounted for 25.6%, while religiously unaffiliated people accounted for 24.2%. Hindus represented 14.9%, and Buddhists represented 4.1%.
| Global religious category | Share of world population, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Christian | 28.8% |
| Muslim | 25.6% |
| Religiously unaffiliated | 24.2% |
| Hindu | 14.9% |
| Buddhist | 4.1% |
Source: Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2020.
Regional patterns differed substantially. Christians were 67.1% of Europe’s population in 2020. In the Asia-Pacific region, 32.8% of people were religiously unaffiliated. Latin America and the Caribbean remained strongly Christian by affiliation, with Christians making up 84.6% of the population.
These figures should be read as identity measures rather than a universal scale of religious practice. A person may identify as Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, or another category while participating at different levels—or not participating in organized religious life at all.
How affiliation changed from 2010 to 2020
The global picture also changed in the number of countries and territories where particular categories formed a majority. Christians were a majority in 120 countries and territories in 2020, compared with 124 in 2010. Religiously unaffiliated people were a majority in 10 countries and territories in 2020, up from seven in 2010. The number of countries with a Muslim majority was 53 in both years.
Several country-level figures illustrate why global percentages can conceal very different national experiences. In 2020, Christians made up 49% of the United Kingdom’s population, 47% of Australia’s, 46% of France’s, and 44% of Uruguay’s. Religiously unaffiliated people were 54% of the Netherlands, 52% of Uruguay, and 51% of New Zealand.
China had about 1.3 billion religiously unaffiliated people in 2020, representing 90% of its population in the estimate. Japan had about 73 million religiously unaffiliated people, representing 57% of its population. The United States had roughly 101 million religiously unaffiliated people in 2020, 97% more than a decade earlier.
Source: The World’s Religious Groups: How Their Sizes Changed from 2010 to 2020. These are estimates for 2020 and comparisons with 2010, not forecasts.
Age, fertility, and religious switching
Demographic structure is one part of religious change. In 2010, Muslims had the highest under-15 share among the major religious categories: 35% of Muslims worldwide were under age 15. Jews had the highest share age 50 or older, at 33%. Among the religiously unaffiliated, 19% were under age 15, the smallest under-15 share among the major categories.
Estimated fertility also varied. Muslims had an estimated total fertility rate of 3.1 children per woman in 2010-15. The corresponding estimate for Christians was 2.7, while Buddhists had an estimated rate of 1.6 children per woman.
Religious switching provides another measure of change, but it is based on survey evidence rather than a census count. For every 100 adults ages 18 to 54 who were raised with no religion, 24.2 joined the unaffiliated category and 7.5 left it, a net gain of 16.7. For every 100 adults in the same age range who were raised Christian, 17.1 left Christianity and 5.5 joined it, a net loss of 11.6. The survey data were collected from 2008 to 2024 and analyzed in 2025.
Source: 1. Factors driving religious change, 2010-2020. The age, fertility, and switching measures use different periods and methods, so they should not be treated as interchangeable indicators.
United States religious affiliation in 2023-24
The 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study estimated that 62% of U.S. adults identified as Christian. Protestants represented 40% of adults and Catholics 19%. The religiously unaffiliated represented 29%.
Within the unaffiliated category, 5% of U.S. adults identified as atheist, 6% as agnostic, and 19% as nothing in particular. Another 7.1% identified with a religion other than Christianity. Specific estimates included 1.7% Jewish, 1.2% Muslim, 1.1% Buddhist, and 0.9% Hindu.
The study also reported a difference by nativity. In 2023-24, 14% of U.S. immigrants identified with a non-Christian religion, compared with 6% of U.S.-born adults.
| U.S. adult affiliation | Share, 2023-24 |
|---|---|
| Christian | 62% |
| Protestant | 40% |
| Catholic | 19% |
| Religiously unaffiliated | 29% |
| Other religion | 7.1% |
Source: Religious identity in the United States. These figures are survey estimates of U.S. adults, not a complete population census.
U.S. trends since 2007
The same U.S. study documents a broad shift in self-identification since 2007. The Christian share of U.S. adults fell from 78% in 2007 to 62% in 2023-24. The Protestant share fell from 51% to 40%, and the Catholic share fell from 24% to 19%.
Over the same period, the religiously unaffiliated share rose from 16% to 29%. The share identifying with a non-Christian religion rose from 4.7% to 7.1%. Among women, the Christian share fell from 82% in 2007 to 66% in 2023-24. Mainline Protestants fell from 18% of U.S. adults to 11%.
Generation-specific results show a similar movement among Americans born in the 1980s. Their religiously unaffiliated share rose from 26% in 2007 to 37% in 2023-24.
| U.S. category | 2007 | 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|
| Christian | 78% | 62% |
| Protestant | 51% | 40% |
| Catholic | 24% | 19% |
| Religiously unaffiliated | 16% | 29% |
| Non-Christian religion | 4.7% | 7.1% |
Source: Religious identity in the United States. The comparison uses survey estimates from different study years; it does not mean every individual changed affiliation.
England and Wales in Census 2021
England and Wales asked a voluntary religion question in Census 2021. Among usual residents, 94.0% answered the question, representing 56.0 million people. Of all people in England and Wales, 46.2% identified as Christian, or 27.5 million people. The second-largest response was no religion, at 37.2%, or 22.2 million people.
Muslims represented 6.5%, or 3.9 million people, while Hindus represented 1.7%, or 1.0 million people.
Geography mattered within the census area. In Wales, 43.6% identified as Christian and 46.5% reported no religion. In London, 40.7% identified as Christian and 25.3% identified with a religion other than Christianity. London’s Muslim share was 15.0%, and its Hindu share was 5.1%.
Source: Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021. These figures describe usual-resident self-identification in a voluntary census question.
Canada in Census 2021
Canada’s 2021 Census found that 53.3% of the population reported a Christian religion, representing more than 19.3 million people. Another 34.6%, approximately 12.6 million people, reported no religious affiliation or a secular perspective. A further 12.1% reported another religious affiliation.
Canada’s longer trend shows a steady decline in the Christian share: 77.1% in 2001, 67.3% in 2011, and 53.3% in 2021. The share reporting no religion or secular perspectives rose from 16.5% in 2001 to 23.9% in 2011 and 34.6% in 2021.
Several other affiliations increased as shares of the population. The Muslim share rose from 2.0% in 2001 to 3.2% in 2011 and 4.9% in 2021. The Hindu share rose from 1.0% to 1.5% and then 2.3%. The Sikh share rose from 0.9% in 2001 to 1.4% in 2011 and 2.1% in 2021.
Source: The Canadian census: A rich portrait of the country’s religious and ethnocultural diversity. Canada’s figures are 2021 Census population self-reports, with the earlier percentages providing historical comparison points.
Across these sources, the central pattern is diversity in both affiliation and measurement. Global estimates, adult surveys, and census self-reports answer related but different questions. The date, geography, population base, and wording of each measure are essential when comparing religious affiliation statistics.