The Global Religious Landscape June 2012 | Page 25

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PEW FORUM ON RELIGION & PUBLIC LIFE

Religiously Unaffiliated
The religiously unaffiliated number . billion, accounting for about one-in-six ( 6 )
people worldwide. The religiously unaffiliated include atheists, agnostics and people who
do not identify with any particular religion in surveys. owever, many of the religiously
unaffiliated have some religious beliefs. For example, belief in God or a higher power is
shared by
of Chinese unaffiliated adults,
of French unaffiliated adults and 6
of
unaffiliated U.S. adults. Some of the unaffiliated also engage in certain kinds of religious
practices. For example,
of unaffiliated adults in France and
of those in the
United States say they attend religious services at least once a year. And in China,
of
unaffiliated adults say they have worshiped at a graveside or tomb in the past year.

Regional Distribution of the Unaffiliated
Population by region as of 2010

Europe
134,820,000

North America
59,040,000

Middle East-North Africa
2,100,000

Asia-Pacific
858,580,000

Latin AmericaCaribbean
45,390,000
Sub-Saharan Africa
26,580,000

Percentage of world unaffiliated population in each region as of 2010

5.2 4.0

12.0

Europe
North Latin AmericaAmerica Caribbean

76.2%
0.2
2.4

Middle East-North Africa

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Population estimates are rounded to the ten thousands. Percentages are calculated from unrounded numbers.
Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding
10 Beliefs and practices of unaffiliated adults in the United States are documented in the Pew Forum’s October 2012 report “ ‘Nones’ on the Rise.” The Pew
Forum’s belief-in-God question measures belief in God or a universal spirit. French results are based on a Pew Forum analysis of 2008 International Social
Survey Programme (ISSP) data; the ISSP survey measures belief in God or a “higher power of some kind.” Chinese results are based on a Pew Forum analysis of the 2007 Spiritual Life Study of Chinese Residents survey, conducted by the Chinese polling firm Horizon. In China, the belief-in-God statistic includes
belief in God, gods, spirits, ghosts or Buddha.

www.pewforum.org