Countries with Largest Unaffiliated Populations
Updated September 9, 2022 |
Infoplease Staff
The table below lists the top ten countries with the greatest number of people who identify themselves as religiously unaffiliated. The countries with the highest unaffiliated percentages tend to be communist or formerly communist countries, which usually oppose or restrict religion.
Country | 2010 unaffiliated population |
Percentage of population that is unaffiliated |
Percentage of world unaffiliated population |
---|---|---|---|
China | 700,680,000 | 52.2% | 62.2% |
Japan | 72,120,000 | 57.0 | 6.4 |
United States | 50,980,000 | 16.4 | 4.5 |
Vietnam | 26,040,000 | 29.6 | 2.3 |
Russia | 23,180,000 | 16.2 | 2.1 |
South Korea | 22,350,000 | 46.4 | 2.0 |
Germany | 20,350,000 | 24.7 | 1.8 |
France | 17,580,000 | 28.0 | 1.6 |
North Korea | 17,350,000 | 71.3 | 1.5 |
Brazil | 15,410,000 | 7.9 | 1.4 |
Subtotal for 10 countries | 966,040,000 | 39.9 | 85.8 |
Subtotal for rest of world | 160,460,000 | 3.6 | 14.2 |
World total | 1,126,500,000 | 16.3 | 100.0 |
Source: Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, Global Religious Landscape, December 2012.