Why We Believe: A Global Story of Faith
What if childhood poverty, trauma, and family breakups have almost no universal link to adult religious belief?
A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in belief in God, gods, or spiritual forces in 22 countries
Belief in God, gods, or spiritual forces varies dramatically across the globe, ranging from as high as 100% in Egypt to as low as 20% in Japan.
Globally, belief in a higher power is more common among women, older adults, married or widowed individuals, immigrants, and those with less formal education.
While global patterns exist, the relationship between demographics like age or education and belief in a higher power is not consistent and varies significantly from one country to another.
“A nation's collective beliefs influence its cultural values, social cohesion, and even its political priorities.”
This research is important because it provides one of the most comprehensive maps of spiritual belief ever created. It challenges the simple idea that the world is becoming uniformly less religious. While some nations are highly secular, others remain deeply faithful, and this study helps us understand why. For policymakers and global leaders, this data is crucial. A country's collective beliefs influence its cultural values, social cohesion, and even political priorities. Understanding these patterns can lead to more effective and empathetic international relations. For the rest of us, it’s a powerful reminder that there isn't one single way to be human. It pushes us to look past stereotypes about religion, age, and education, and appreciate the complex and diverse ways people around the world find meaning and make sense of their lives. It shows that faith is not a single, simple thing but a deeply personal and culturally rich part of the human experience.
“A nation's collective beliefs influence its cultural values, social cohesion, and even its political priorities.”
What does belief in God look like around the world? To find out, researchers surveyed over 200,000 people in 22 different countries, asking if they believe in one God, multiple gods, a spiritual force, or none of these. The study created a fascinating map of global faith, revealing just how much belief varies from one place to another.
“Even among people who never attend religious services, seventy percent still report some form of belief.”
The results show a huge diversity. In countries like Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, belief is nearly universal (over 98%). In contrast, countries like Sweden and Japan are far more secular, with belief rates of 44% and 20%, respectively. The study also looked at who believes.
Globally, women are more likely to believe than men. Belief also tends to increase with age and is higher among married or widowed people and immigrants. However, the researchers stress that these are just general trends, and the patterns change a lot from one country to another. For example, while older people are often more religious, in some countries like Sweden, both the young and the old are more likely to believe than the middle-aged. The study also found that simply not attending religious services doesn't mean someone is an atheist; even among those who never attend, a surprising 70% still report some form of belief.
This research gives us a detailed, nuanced picture of faith around the world, moving beyond simple stereotypes to show how culture and personal life shape our deepest convictions.
The proportion of the population expressing belief in God, gods, or a spiritual force varied by 80 percentage points between the most believing country (Egypt at 100%) and the least believing country (Japan at 20%).
Across the 22 countries studied, women were more likely to report belief in a higher power than men, with 90% of women endorsing such a belief compared to 87% of men.
Even among people who never attend religious services, a substantial majority still report belief in God, gods, or a spiritual force, with this group's belief rate at 70%.
In Japan, Christians were over three times more likely to report belief in God, gods, or a spiritual force (77%) compared to their Buddhist counterparts (25%).
Aglozo, E. Y., Johnson, K. A., Case, B., Padgett, R. N., Johnson, B. R., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2025). A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in belief in God, gods, or spiritual forces in 22 countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79103-w
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