List of religious populations

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

Current world estimates Pew Research Center published in 2025 an estimation of the proportions of the major religious groups in 2020.

Largest religion by country

By proportion

Christians

Countries and territories with the greatest proportion of Christians from Christianity by country, in 2010:

100% (100% Roman Catholic) 100% (100% Seventh-day Adventist) 99.6% (mostly Roman Catholic) ~99.0% (mostly Protestant) 98.5% (96% Oriental Orthodox) 98.3% (mostly Protestant; ARDA claim) 98.1% (mostly Roman Catholic) 98.0% (71% Roman Catholic) 98.0% (95% Eastern Orthodox) 97.2% (mostly Protestant) 97.2% (mostly Protestant) 97.0% (~97% Roman Catholic) 96.9% (mostly Roman Catholic) 96.4% (mostly Roman Catholic; ARDA claim) 96.0% (mostly Protestant) ~96.0% (mostly Protestant) 95.1% (mostly Protestant) 94.8% (mostly Protestant; ARDA claim) 94.6% (mostly Roman Catholic) 94.5% (mostly Roman Catholic) 93.0% (mostly Eastern Orthodox) 92.9% (mostly Roman Catholic) 91.1% (mostly Roman Catholic)

Muslims

Countries and territories with a considerable proportion of Muslims from Islam by country in 2010, excluding foreign workers in brackets:

100% 99.9% 99.9% 99.8% (65% Sunni, 35% Shia) 99.7% 99.7% (90% Sunni, 10% Shia) 99.6% (95% Shia, 5% Sunni) 99.5% 99.2% (55% Shia, 45% Sunni) Gaza Strip 99.0% 99.0% (60% Shia, 40% Sunni) 99.0% (mostly Sunni) 98.6% (85% Sunni, 15% Shia) 98.3% 98.0% 97.9% 97.2% (90% Sunni, 10% Shia) 97.0% 96.9% 96.6% 96.4% (85% Sunni, 12% Shia, 3% Other) 96.3% 94.6% 92.2% (80% Sunni, 20% Shia)

Irreligious and atheists

Countries with the greatest proportion of people without religion, including agnostics and atheists, from Irreligion by country in 2020:

89.6% 72.9% 72.8% 71.4% 67.7% 67.6% 57.5% 54.1% 52.4% 51.4% 48.3% 43.6% 42.6% 42.3% 40.8% 40.2% 39.0% 36.1% 34.6% 32.3% 30.8% 30.3% 29.7% 28.9% 27.0% 26.4% 25.3% 25.3% 25.0% 23.7%

Data is ranked by mean estimate in parentheses. Irreligious includes agnostic, atheist, secular 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. 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.

Hindus

Countries with the greatest proportion of Hindus from Hinduism by country in 2020:

81.2% 79.4% 48.3% 24.1% 23.4% 22.5% 22.5% 20.6% 14.5% 11.8% 11.2% 10.6% 9.5% 8.5% 7.9% 6.1% 5.3% 4.5% 3% 2.8% 2.6% 2.5% 2.1% 2% 1.7% 1.6% 1.6% 1.5% 1.4% 1.4%

Buddhists

Countries with the greatest proportion of Buddhists from Buddhism by country in 2010:

96.9% 93.2% 80.1% 74.7% 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% 10.6% 10.3% 8.6% 3.1% 2.8% 2.7% 2.5% 2.0% 1.6% 1.5% 1.2% 1.1%

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 and the Tao Te Ching, the practice of Taoism has not been promulgated in America with much success.Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); p. 192. 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 have become popular throughout the world through tai chi, qigong, and various martial arts.

33.0–80.0% 30.0% 28.0% 13.9% 8.5% 2.6% 0.2–1.0% 0.01–0.05% 0.05%

In 1999, the Chinese traditional religion had 184,000 believers in Latin America, 250,000 believers in Europe, and 839,000 believers in North America.World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000. Mahwah, NJ: PRIMEDIA Reference Inc. (1999). [Source: 1999 Encyc. Britannica Book of the Year]; p. 695.

Ethnic and indigenous religionists Indigenous statistics come from the 2009 U.S. Department of State's International Religious Freedom Act, based on the highest estimate of people identified as indigenous or followers of indigenous religions that have been well-defined. Due to the syncretic nature of these religions, the numbers may not reflect the actual number of practitioners.

35.6% 32.9% 30.9% 29.5% 25.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 15.0% 12.0% 10.5% 10.0% 10.0% 10.0% 10.0% 10.0% 9.0% 9.0% 8.5% 5.0%

Sikhs

Countries with the greatest proportion of Sikhs:

2.12% 1.72% 1.10% 0.88% 0.88% 0.83% 0.75%ARDA claim: 0.56% 0.37% 0.35%

The Sikh homeland is the Punjab 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. They can be found in many international cities and have become an especially strong religious presence in the United Kingdom and Canada. Sikhism is the fastest growing religion in New Zealand and Australia.

Spiritists The data come from ARDA if no other specific source is provided. 10.3% 10.2% 3.6% 2.7% 2.2% 1.9% 1.8% 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%

Jews

Countries with the greatest proportion of Jews in 2017:

73.60% 2.00% 1.76% 1.07% 0.70% 0.485% 0.483% 0.47% 0.44% 0.41% 0.36% 0.259% 0.25% 0.24% 0.22% 0.17% 0.154% 0.154% 0.152% 0.14% 0.124% 0.124% 0.122% 0.112% 0.11%

By population Christians Largest Christian populations in 2020: 217,270,000 168,300,000 113,070,000 102,510,000 102,350,000 92,770,000 92,400,000 73,230,000 51,630,000 48,210,000 47,030,000 44,730,000 43,670,000 39,970,000 39,440,000 39,010,000 37,280,000 34,810,000 33,250,000 33,120,000 31,120,000 31,060,000 31,030,000 30,620,000 28,200,000 25,450,000 25,060,000 22,730,000 21,490,000 20,350,000

Muslims Largest Muslim populations in 2020: 238,990,000 (details) 226,880,000 213,060,000 151,440,000 119,980,000 104,040,000 87,520,000 83,600,000 46,250,000 43,330,000 41,910,000 39,020,000 36,470,000 36,090,000 32,120,000 28,730,000 25,980,000 23,270,000 21,730,000 20,440,000 19,820,000 18,210,000 16,620,000 16,380,000 15,180,000 14,480,000 13,390,000 11,990,000 11,890,000 11,610,000

Irreligious and atheists Largest religiously unaffiliated populations in 2020:

1,278,120,000 100,910,000 72,570,000 66,370,000 30,230,000 29,560,000 28,110,000 28,110,000 27,090,000 25,030,000 19,040,000 13,480,000 13,220,000 12,570,000 10,900,000 9,540,000 7,950,000 7,680,000 6,770,000 6,460,000 5,860,000 5,460,000 5,340,000 5,030,000 4,500,000 4,400,000 4,170,000 3,300,000 2,990,000 2,770,000

Hindus Largest Hindu populations in 2020: 1,113,200,000 23,520,000 13,140,000 5,030,000 4,350,000 3,280,000 3,040,000 2,070,000 1,140,000 1,110,000 810,000 760,000 640,000 620,000 580,000 430,000 370,000 310,000 300,000 300,000 260,000 230,000 220,000 190,000 170,000 170,000 140,000 140,000 130,000 100,000

Buddhists Largest Buddhist populations in 2020.

67,620,000 53,380,000 47,210,000 46,990,000 22,580,000 16,240,000 15,700,000 9,850,000 9,550,000 6,400,000 3,800,023 2,062,000 1,001,974 670,000 660,000 630,000 580,000 520,000 470,000 400,000

Sikhs Largest Sikh population in 2023

23,786,000 771,790 524,000 ~280,000 210,400 210,000 100,000 70,000 52,000 50,000 40,908 35,540ARDA claim: 35,000 30,000 26,000 25,000 23,000 20,000 15,000 15,000 15,000

Jews

Largest Jewish populations in 2017: 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 2010 in countries with a national population ≥200,000:ARDA claim: 1,897,651 512,864 422,782 388,802 300,000 282,916 275,069 251,127 241,112 238,532 215,359 190,419 169,811 95,098 94,499 87,259 78,915 70,504 67,549 65,096 59,898

Jains In 2005, per ARDA:

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 1,000 981 500 families 229

See also Major religious groups World religions Importance of religion by country Religious demographics

Religions: Religions by country History of the Baháʼí Faith Buddhism by country Christianity by country Catholic Church by country Protestantism by country Eastern Orthodoxy by country Oriental Orthodoxy by country Hinduism by country Islam by country Ahmadiyya by country Judaism by country Sikhism by country

Notes

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 Vipassana Foundation – Buddhists around the world