Globally, 1 in 10 adults under 55 have left their childhood religion
The share of people who retain their childhood religious identity in adulthood varies across religious categories.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
All
Publications
The share of people who retain their childhood religious identity in adulthood varies across religious categories.
Explore how adults in the U.S. and 35 other countries compare religiously and spiritually when it comes to affiliation, prayer, afterlife beliefs and more.
U.S. Muslims tend to be younger and more highly educated than other Americans. But they’re similar to Christians on many religiousness measures.
From 2010 to 2020, the number of Muslims increased by 347 million people to 2.0 billion people.
Christians remain the largest religious group, and Muslims grew the fastest from 2010 to 2020. Read how the global share of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and the religiously unaffiliated changed.
Find how many people identify with each religious group and what percent each made up in 201 countries and territories, and by region, in 2010 and 2020.
Belief in an afterlife, God and spirits in nature is widespread globally. Older adults are more likely than younger adults to believe in God.
About one-fifth of Israeli Jews (22%) have switched from one Jewish group to another since childhood.
In many places surveyed, 20% or more of all adults have left their childhood religious group. Christianity and Buddhism have had especially large losses.
Catholics are one of the largest religious groups in the United States, outnumbering any single Protestant denomination.
Notifications