Religiosity: 81% in India; just 14% in China

Zee Media Bureau

Mumbai: A new poll survey conducted by WIN/Gallup International has revealed that 13 percent of the survey shows that there is an increase in the number of people who are non-believers. Topping the chart are the Chinese with just 14% of the population terming itself as religious. Japan (16%), Czech Republic (20%), Turkey (23%) are the other least religious countries. The number of religious people in the US is declining at a steady pace with just 60% of the population calling itself religious in 2012 as compared to 73% in 2005. The other notable low ranker in the global religiosity index is Saudi Arabia with only 75% score on the index. In India too the number of non religious persons is on the rise. In 2005, over 87% of those who took part in the poll had termed themselves as religious, the figure has dropped to 81% in 2012. In Pakistan, the percentage of religious persons stood at 84%. Importantly, a change in index standing of a particular country is not about the drift from faith, but pertains to those who claim to be ‘not religious’ while remaining within the faith. However, there is a rise of 3% in atheism as well and the global average of the 39 countries polled in both waves shows religiosity index dropped by 9% during these seven years. Among the countries with most number of religious people are: Ghana (96%), Nigeria (93%), Armenia (92%), Fiji (92%), Iraq (88%). Globally, religion wise number of religious (in %): Roman Catholic (81%), Eastern Orthodox/Russian 78%, Protestant (83%), Other Christian (80%), Hindu (82%), Muslim (74%), Jewish (38%), Buddhists (97%), Others (76%), Nothing (3%), Refuse/NA (22%). The survey was conducted among over 50,000 people spread across 40 countries.