It is estimated that around 20 per cent or more of adults in countries across East Asia, Europe and the Americas have left the religion of their childhoods, according to a new study.
Christianity and Buddhism have had the largest losses, with Spain experiencing the greatest haemorrhaging, among European countries, of people from their religious roots. Among Western developed countries, the US remains relatively stable in terms of people holding onto the religion in which they were raised.
The study found that most of the religious loss or switching in each country surveyed has been by people who were raised in religion, with the most common occurrence of religious disaffiliation being among those who were raised Christian.
On 26 March the Pew Research Center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/03/26/around-the-world-many-people-are-leaving-their-childhood-religions/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">published</mark></a> “Around the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions”. For the report, Pew defines religious switching as a change between the religious group in which a person says they were raised (childhood) and their religious identity now (adulthood).
Pew surveyed nearly 80,000 people across 36 countries to gather the data. The countries surveyed have a variety of historically predominant religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.
More people have left Christianity than have joined it in the 27 countries analysed that have sufficient sample sizes of Christians. Western countries top the list of places where people who were raised Christian now describe themselves as religiously disaffiliated. Most who left Christianity are religiously disaffiliated, opposed to joining another religion.
Spain tops the list, with 35 per cent of adults who said they were raised Christian now describing themselves as religiously disaffiliated. Other countries near the top of the list for adults who have shifted from Christian to being disaffiliated, are Sweden and Germany (both 29 per cent), the Netherlands (28 per cent), and Canada and the United Kingdom (26 per cent).
The United States was middle of the pack with 19 per cent of adults who said they were raised Christian now describing themselves as religiously unaffiliated, the data shows.
However, despite the losses, the fact still remains that in nearly all of the 27 countries, majorities of Christians have retained their religion. This is especially true in the Philippines, Hungary and Nigeria, where nearly all people who say they were raised Christian are still Christians as adults, according to the report.
Other countries of note are Singapore and South Korea, which the report found have relatively high rates of “accession”, or entrance, into Christianity, with about four in ten, or more, Christian adults in these countries saying they were raised in another religion or with no religion. That said, Christians remain a minority in both Singapore and South Korea, with 18 per cent and 33 per cent of adults currently identifying as Christian, respectively, the data shows.
To gather the non-US data, the report draws on nationally representative surveys of 41,503 adults conducted from Jan. 5 to May 22 in 2024. For the United States, the data comes from the 2023-2024 Religious Landscape Study, which was conducted in English and Spanish from 17 July 2023 to 4 March 2024, among a sample of 36,908 US adults.
Broadly, the countries with the most religious switching, according to the report, are South Korea (50 per cent of adults have switched religions), Spain (40 per cent), Canada (38 per cent), Sweden (37 per cent), and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (both 36 per cent).
The United States was 13th on the list, with 28 per cent of adults switching religions.
The countries with the least religious switching, according to the report, are Tunisia and Bangladesh (under 1 per cent of adults in both have switched), Indonesia and Israel (1 per cent), and India and Thailand (both 2 per cent).
Broken down by age, the report found that in most countries surveyed, roughly equal percentages of younger and older adults have switched religions. However, in 13 countries – including nearly all Latin American nations surveyed, as well as countries in Europe and North America – adults under 35 are more likely than adults ages 50 and older to have switched religions.
It’s another data point that confirms the impact of secularisation in much of the Western world. Still, at least when it comes to Christianity, the report confirms that despite the reported losses – switching or losing faith entirely – the religion of Jesus Christ maintains a profound presence around the world.
“While these figures reflect religious trends in 36 countries included in the survey, they are not necessarily representative of the entire world’s population,” the report states.
“Christianity – the world’s largest and most geographically widespread religion, by Pew Research Center’s estimates – is either the current majority faith or historically has been a predominant religion in 25 of the countries surveyed.”
<a href="https://thecatholicherald.com/pews-new-research-on-us-catholics-shows-invasive-action-needed-for-church-pews/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><em><strong>RELATED: Pew’s new research on US Catholics shows ‘invasive’ action needed to fill church pews</strong></em></mark></a>
<em>Photo: Participants wearing the conical hats of penitents called 'capirote' haul an effigy of Jesus Christ bearing the cross during a Good Friday procession in Bilbao, Spain, 29 March 2024. Easter remains among the most important events in the Spanish and Basque calendars, both religiously and culturally. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.)</em>
