Belief In God: University Of Chicago Report Measures Countries With Highest And Lowest Strength

A new report measures the strength of people's belief in God in 30 countries around the world*, and how those beliefs have changed over time.

“Beliefs About God Across Time And Countries,” conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, asked the following question to determine the nature of belief or unbelief in God:

Please indicate which statement comes closest to expressing what you believe about God:

1. I don't believe in God.
2. I don't know whether there is a God and I don't believe there is any way to find out.
3. I don’t believe in a personal God, but do believe in a Higher Power of some kind.
4. I find myself believing in God some of the time, but not at others.
5. While I have doubts, I feel that I do believe in God.
6. I know that God really exists and I have no doubts about it.
7. Can’t Choose
8. No Answer

Respondents were categorized as atheists (option 1), agnostics (option 2), deists (option 3), waivers (option 4), weak believers (option 5) and strong believers (option 6) depending on their answer choice.

The researchers found the Philippines to have the highest and Japan to have the lowest number of strong believers, with close to 84 percent of respondents in the Philippines, and 4.3 percent of respondents in Japan indicating that they know God really exists and that they have no doubts about it. On average, 33.56 percent of those surveyed world-wide identified as strong believers.

The researchers found that countries with high belief tend to be Catholic societies, especially in the developing world, with the United States, Israel and Cyprus being noteworthy exceptions. Countries with low belief tend to be ex-Socialist states and countries in northwest Europe.

The paper in its entirety can be read here.

*The data from this survey came from 30 countries in which surveys about belief in God have been taken, in some cases, since 1991. It did not include Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu majority countries.

Click through the slideshow to see countries which have the highest and lowest strong belief in God:

Comments

[Pablo Gonzales]

11:41 AM on 05/17/2012

-

[streettalk]

09:52 PM on 05/11/2012

most churches are empty because of the lies they tell so if they tell the truth just once and make sure it is true it is hard for these preachers to know what is true and what isn't and they shame themselves and those people who listen to them the first words out of anyones mouth is what does god look like and what is his real name,from the word go consintine got all these lies to gether and start the roman church and called his book a bible i still call them scpritures for they help to know who lying and who tells the truth. jesus lost his power when the woman touched him so does god lose his power i dont think so. if you ask these questions you won't fall in to thier web and maybe you u will be happy without thier guilt put on you. god bless

[naimas]

07:00 PM on 05/07/2012

What world did they go to do this research? Most of the world countries with major belief in God are not appearing in here? Have they surveyed Indonesia, India, Mexico and many other countries? Ok i don't believe our country is number 4. I would expect it to be at the bottom, no offense to the religious out there.

[Utopian Sky]

10:02 PM on 05/19/2012

They said right in the article:

"The data from this survey came from 30 countries in which surveys about belief in God have been taken, in some cases, since 1991. It did not include Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu majority countries."

That is why Indonesia and India would be excluded.

As far as Mexico is concerned:

"The researchers found that countries with high belief tend to be Catholic societies, especially in the developing world, with the United States, Israel and Cyprus being noteworthy exceptions. Countries with low belief tend to be ex-Socialist states and countries in northwest Europe."

Mexico is both Catholic and developing.

[Tabasco]

10:23 PM on 05/06/2012

Looks like most of the world (especially Europe) is way ahead of the U.S. in the enlightenment department.

[adam25x]

04:39 PM on 05/07/2012

Except that "most of the world" was not even included in the survey...

The footnote to the article:
"The data from this survey came from 30 countries in which surveys about belief in God have been taken, in some cases, since 1991. It did not include Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu majority countries. "

[Katarzyna Kamienski]

07:24 PM on 05/19/2012

Most of Europe are a bunch of soulless, selfish and materialistic dullards.

[Tabasco]

07:52 PM on 05/19/2012

And on that wise and happy note........

[Utopian Sky]

10:03 PM on 05/19/2012

As opposed to what, Americans?
Have you seen the Republicans?

[Gay Iberian]

12:26 AM on 05/06/2012

I don't believe in god.

[Katarzyna Kamienski]

07:24 PM on 05/19/2012

That's nice. Your point?

[streettalk]

09:25 PM on 05/05/2012

i do not believe in god the creator or the lord god. i have no faith in god the creator or the lord god. i have no concept of god the creatoror the lord god. i do not presume in the god the creator or the lord god.so now i want you to tell me what is his image looks like and what he looks like? i now want his really name and why he is called that.?

[Alegrio Maduk]

11:00 AM on 05/10/2012

Has nothing or zero in mathematics exist? Spiritual is not physical and vice versa yet the spirit was the mover of all life forms. If nothing exists, so God exist. If physical exist the more God exist. When we divide any number by infinity it will results to zero nothing. In science matter was composed of compound of elements then element were down to atom down to electron then down to quarks ... what is next? It is getting smaller and smaller as science were advancing.So would it be possible that as number of inventions in knowledge about science reaches to infinity will lead us to zero?

[Alegrio Maduk]

11:18 AM on 05/10/2012

Truly man evolve from animals for people who does not believe God, because God has breathed into his nostrils, to human beings and does not to animals.

[lilacluvr]

03:43 AM on 05/05/2012

One thing for sure - if I had to spend eternity with these Fundy Evangelical Christians from the Far Right Wing of the Republican Party - I would definitely NOT be in the same category as those folks who believe in that particular God. Thanks, but no thanks. Why would anyone want to spend one minute with these people - let alone eternity?

[lilacluvr]

03:40 AM on 05/05/2012

Now ask which countries have the most people who would consider themselves 'happy and content'. I suspect those with the lowest rate of believers in God are the happiest and the most contented people. There is way too much religion in some countries - and that is all churches are - just man-made religion. Faith is spiritual - and faith requires nothing more than the innate sense that there is a higher power in the world. Religion is what is the problem in the world today - not faith.

[navin1]

06:51 PM on 05/04/2012

Wow, don't include muslims, hindus, buddhists in the survey and conclude about belief in god. I guess this is ethnocentrist self stimulation. Interesting that a study showing the less educated societies are more religious is planned by less educated persons as to the universal ideas of what a religion is. Or is that too complicated for the researchers?

hariaum

[plzgetreal]

03:31 PM on 05/04/2012

"On average, 33.56 percent of those surveyed world-wide identified as strong believers."

Far less than I expected. I guess there is hope for mankind after all.

[Direct2thepoint]

06:20 PM on 05/04/2012

You are talking about hope!! you are a very spiritual man!!

[Utopian Sky]

09:33 PM on 05/04/2012

Emotions are not caused by spirits.

[colddoseofsumthin]

11:29 AM on 05/04/2012

now i know why i love sushi so much.

[Loki Laufeyson]

11:25 PM on 05/06/2012

If you knew sushi like I know sushi, oh, oh, oh what a dish.

[Katarzyna Kamienski]

07:26 PM on 05/19/2012

and now I know why Japan has such a high suicide rate :)

[colddoseofsumthin]

03:54 AM on 05/20/2012

because they're depressed by all the intolerance, ignorance, hatred and wars waged in the name of God? ;)

[TomMartin]

08:05 AM on 05/04/2012

I guess Japan is so low because some there believe in gods rather than God.

[ratitouille]

01:48 PM on 05/04/2012

A high percentage of Japanese are Budhist. True Budhism is a godless philosophy, in which one seeks inner harmony with the uninverse. Hindus worship many gods. I don't think Hinduism is big in Japan.

[TomMartin]

04:34 PM on 05/04/2012

But Buddhism usually teaches that if you are quite good you can be reborn as a god, and then live as a god for many centuries, until you die again, and are then reborn again. Though only a rebirth as a human can be effective to escape the cycle of rebirth, if you are that great. This doctrine is adopted from Hinduism, with the exception that we don't have souls, so it is not reincarnation of souls, but a rebirth of some essence of us. And Buddhist scriptures also mention some gods by name, including some Hindu names. But unlike Hinduism, Buddhism does not believe in creator gods.

[Okiemama]

05:32 PM on 05/04/2012

A quick check found that 84% of Japanese claim no personal religion and 64% do not believe in God and 55% do not believe in Budda. 70 to 80% tell pollsters they do not consider themselves believers in any religion. Probably one of the reasons Japan is such a safe and sane country.

[TomMartin]

06:02 PM on 05/04/2012

According to my 2012 Time Almanac, in 2003 84.2 followed Shinto and related beliefs, 73.6% followed Buddhism and related beliefs (many Japanese practice both Shintoism and Buddhism). So I wonder if they just practice it sometimes but without really considering themselves members. I know many have Shinto weddings but Buddhist funerals. It might be like in Scandinavian countries, where maybe most are agnostic, but they get their babies baptized in the Lutheran church, have a Lutheran wedding, a Lutheran funeral, but otherwise never attend church. And of course those are also safe countries, notwithstanding the one exception of Breivik's two terrorist acts in Norway, next to the parliament, and then the island where he killed so many teenagers. But then he considered himself a Christian, though not very religious.

[Katarzyna Kamienski]

07:28 PM on 05/19/2012

Really? What about the guy who murdered the foreign student, chopped up her body, kept it in his tub and slowly ate the remains. You know what the Japanese did after they found out? They turned him into a reality tv show. That sounds like a sane society if you ask me.

[TomMartin]

08:03 AM on 05/04/2012

I guess I would have had to choose choice 7. Can't choose. After all, while I don't know if there is a God, I don't know if there is a way to find out or not.

[Muchawawa]

11:39 AM on 05/04/2012

Right, and you'll never know for sure if Thor or the ToothFairy exist either; do you choose 7 for those as well?

[TomMartin]

11:44 AM on 05/04/2012

Never? Maybe after I die, I will discover in heaven deities including Thor and the Toothfairy. So yes, I choose 7 for those too.

[Goldie Treasure]

06:13 PM on 05/03/2012

I'm actually kind of leaning towards becoming a Wiccan.

[TheLastLuddite]

10:11 PM on 05/03/2012

Well, been there, done that....

I escaped a fundamentalist, Pentecostal type upbringing and went into being Wiccan. Found out that there are fundamentalist tree-thumping Wiccans just like there are fundamentalist bible-thumping Christians.

Just as judgmental or "corrective" if you stray even a hair from the orthodoxy of that particular faith as any Christian could be.

Turns out, exchanging one silly, irrational superstition for another doesn't actually equal progress.

You might try Zen Buddhism--the non-religion religion. (I myself went full-on agnostic/atheist, but I think Zen Buddhism is also a good rational, intelligent belief system. Maybe you should look into it....?)

[Goldie Treasure]

10:55 PM on 05/03/2012

Thank you, I will look into it.

[Goldie Treasure]

06:12 PM on 05/03/2012

This is something I have been struggling with a little bit, I have just become so disillusioned with religion, especially its hateful aspects and who says which religion is right and has all the answers over the other religions. Also how can you even be sure that there even is a God, maybe the Atheists are right. I've been feed that God is real almost all my life so I am not quite ready to go down the Atheism road but I have no interest in religion anymore and am more interested in spirituality.

[mrkurtzhedead]

03:02 PM on 05/04/2012

Good luck with whatever you choose but you should always think for yourself and always demand evidence.

[devinegirls3]

02:25 AM on 05/09/2012

what a foolish thing to say to christian. lol

[Okiemama]

05:40 PM on 05/04/2012

Can you explain the difference to me between religion and spirituality? Many people have said the same thing to me as you did and I honestly do not know what they mean. I see no difference between them. Both involve a belief in the supernatural and are satisfied that some things are mysteries and questions can never be answered (at least in this life). Spirituality just seems to be a more upscale, trendy version of religion. I am not trying to be mean about this but as an atheist myself, I just do not get it. Religion is either true or it is not.

[Goldie Treasure]

06:28 PM on 05/04/2012

Well for me personally being religious is following religious laws and customs, it's much more strict. To me spiritually is more go with the flow , I'm not expected to worship in a certain place, read certain scripture, eat certain foods and all that jazz. So not really any huge major differences to me.