Size & Demographic Characteristics of Religious Groups

short readsMay 19, 2014

Middle East’s Christian population in flux as Pope Francis visits Holy Land

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Jordan, the West Bank and Israel this weekend, a region where the Christian population is in flux and where Francis has expressed concern about their well-being.
short readsDec 23, 2013

The world’s Christian population – take our quiz

How much do you know about the world’s Christian population? Which country has the largest Catholic population, and which has the largest number of Protestants? W have a short, ten-question quiz on the global Christian population to test your knowledge.
short readsNov 25, 2013

No clear ‘Pope Francis effect’ among U.S. Catholics

The pope’s popularity hasn’t yet produced a Catholic resurgence in the U.S. in terms of the share of Americans who identify as Catholic, or the share of those who report attending Mass weekly.
short readsJul 23, 2013

On first trip as pope, Francis visits Brazil for World Youth Day

Out of the more than 120 million Catholics in Brazil, 32.6 million are between 15 and 29 years old.
reportJul 18, 2013

Brazil’s Changing Religious Landscape

As young Catholics gather in Brazil, awaiting Pope Francis’ visit in celebration of World Youth Day, an analysis of census data finds that the share of Brazil’s population that identifies as Catholic has been dropping steadily in recent decades. Over the same period, the percentage of Brazilians who belong to Protestant churches has been rising.
reportJun 27, 2013

Canada’s Changing Religious Landscape

As Canadians prepare to celebrate Canada Day on July 1, a new Pew Research Center analysis of Canadian census and survey data finds that more Canadians belong to minority faiths than ever before. In addition, the number of Canadians with no religious affiliation has been rising, and attendance at religious services has been dropping.
featureMar 20, 2013

Israel and the U.S. are Home to More Than Four-Fifths of the World’s Jews

U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Middle East from March 20-23. He will spend much of the time in Israel, home to 41% of the world’s Jews. Another 41% of the world’s Jewish population lives in the United States, according to Pew Research Center estimates.
reportDec 18, 2012

Table: Religious Composition by Country, in Percentages

.footnotes p{ color: #58585B;font-size: 1.2em !important; } .sortable th a{ color:#000000; } .sortable th .desc, .sortable th .asc{ color:#456A83; } td{ padding: 8px 5px !important; } View as: Numbers | Percentages Country Est. 2010 percent that is Christian Est. 2010 percent that is Muslim Est. 2010 percent that is Unaffiliated Est. 2010 percent that is […]
reportDec 18, 2012

New Pew Forum Study Estimates Size, Geographic Distribution and Median Ages of World’s Major Religious Groups

A Third of Adults Under 30 Are Unaffiliated; U.S. Protestant Population Dips Below 50% Washington, D.C. — A new, comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that more than eight-in-ten people worldwide identify with a religious group. The report […]
reportDec 18, 2012

The Global Religious Landscape

A country-by-country analysis of data from more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers finds that 84% of adults and children around the globe are religiously affiliated. The study also finds that the median age of two major groups – Muslims (23 years) and Hindus (26) – is younger than the world’s overall population (28), while Jews have the highest median age (36).