Where is the most religious place in the world?

For the past decade and a half, the Pew Research Center has conducted surveys around the world on religion. One question we have asked in each of these surveys is, “How important is religion in your life?” Another question we have asked repeatedly is, “How often do you pray?”

Using these questions, we see a broadly similar pattern across the 102 countries and territories we surveyed between 2008 and 2023. The places that are most religious by these two measures tend to be in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East-North Africa region. The places that are least religious tend to be in Europe and East Asia.

Of course, there are dimensions of spirituality that these two survey questions do not capture, as we found in regional surveys. At the end of this analysis, we discuss how we might incorporate new measures in the future.

Importance of religion around the world

People in sub-Saharan Africa are most likely to say that religion plays a major role in their lives. In Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda and Zambia, at least 90 percent of adults say this.

In contrast, people in almost all European countries studied are among the the least are more likely to say that religion is very important in their lives. In Estonia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Latvia and Finland, 10% or less of adults say this.

In South and Southeast Asia, the pattern is not as consistent as in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. In some parts of this region, adults are among the most likely in the world to give religion a lot of importance. Consider Indonesia, for example, where almost all adults say that religion is very important in their lives. However, far fewer adults give this answer in Singapore (36%) and Vietnam (26%).

In the United States, 42% of adults say religion plays a very important role in their lives, below the median of 55% for 102 people.

Daily prayer rates around the world

Latin Americans are among the most likely people in the world to say they pray daily. In Guatemala and Paraguay, 82 percent of adults say so, while in Costa Rica and Honduras, the figure is 78 percent.

At the same time, in no other place in East Asia did more than 21 percent of adults say they pray daily. In Hong Kong, the figure is 13 percent and in Japan, 19 percent.

Adults in the United States rank in the middle of the pack in terms of daily prayer rates among the 102 countries and territories analyzed. About 45 percent of Americans say they pray daily, which is nearly identical to the median of 46 percent across the 102 countries and territories analyzed.

The complexity of global measurement of religiosity

Asking people how important religion is in their lives and how often they pray can provide important insights into their religiosity, but in some places these questions work better than others.

These two measures can be particularly useful where the Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – predominate, because prayer and formal religious organisations play a central role. In other parts of the world, we need to ask additional questions to capture the most important aspects of religious or spiritual practices.

A prime example is our 2023 survey of East Asian societies and neighboring Vietnam. Before this survey, we consulted experts from the region to develop questions that address key aspects of spirituality. We also conducted qualitative research in Japan and Taiwan to ensure we were taking the right approach.

The survey found that few East Asians place religion high on their lives or pray daily, but many people across the region have religious or spiritual beliefs and practice traditional rituals. For example, many East Asians participate in rituals honoring their ancestors.

We also asked tailored, culturally relevant questions in our 2019-2020 survey of nearly 30,000 adults in India. For example, that survey found that religious dietary habits are widespread. We found that 92% of Jains are vegetarian, and 67% of Indian Jains also avoid root vegetables. Of all Indian adults, only about half said they would ever eat at the home of someone whose religion has different food rules.

This is how we want to measure religiosity and spirituality worldwide in the future

Our recent research in East Asia and Vietnam essentially marks the conclusion of our tailored, region-specific research on religiosity and spirituality. But that does not mean we are finished studying religion around the world.

Building on what we have learned, we now plan to conduct surveys in 30 or more countries simultaneously. By surveying countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas simultaneously, we can gain a comparative understanding of spirituality around the world.

Since we are studying the same countries over time, we can also repeat some questions to see how different parts of the world are changing – or not – religiously.

This new approach will allow us to ask questions globally that were originally intended for a specific region. For example, building on our work in East Asia, we plan to ask respondents around the world whether they believe spirits are present in different parts of nature. We recently asked such questions in the US and found that 48% of American adults believe that mountains, rivers or trees can have spirits or spiritual energies. This is comparable to the proportion of adults in Japan and Vietnam who believe in such spirits.

Using standards from different cultures and religious traditions will help us better understand people’s spiritual lives.