Who Believes in God? A Global Snapshot of Faith

What does belief in God look like around the world? Researchers asked over 200,000 people in 22 countries a simple question: Do you believe in one God, more than one god, an impersonal spiritual force, or none of these? What they found was a huge range.

Even among people who never attend religious services, seventy percent still report some form of belief.

In Egypt, nearly 100% of people said yes to some form of belief. In Japan, only about 20% did. Ten of the 22 countries had belief levels above 90%, with five of those in Africa. The study also looked at who tends to believe.

Across all countries combined, belief was highest among people 80 and older (98%), women (90%), married or widowed people (92%), homemakers and retired folks (92%), people who attend religious services frequently (98%), those with less formal education (91%), and immigrants (92%). But here's the thing — these patterns didn't hold everywhere. In Hong Kong and Indonesia, young adults were actually more likely to believe than older adults. In Japan, non-belief was steady across all age groups. And in several European countries, immigrants reported higher belief than people born there.

The study reminds us that belief is deeply personal but also varies widely with culture, age, gender, and where you happen to live. It also notes that in some countries, the cost of not believing — socially or even legally — is high, which may influence what people report.