In 2020, Mexico had a protestant and evangelical population of ********** people, the second most followed religion in the country. The most southern Mexican state, Chiapas, concentrated almost *** million people of the religion. The Mexico State followed with around **** million evangelicals and protestants.
In 2023, **** percent of Americans were unaffiliated with any religion. A further **** percent of Americans were White evangelical Protestants, and an additional **** percent were White mainline Protestants. Religious trends in the United States Although the United States is still home to the largest number of Christians worldwide, the nation has started to reflect a more diverse religious landscape in recent years. Americans now report a wide range of religious beliefs and backgrounds, in addition to an increasing number of people who are choosing to identify with no religion at all. Studies suggest that many Americans have left their previous religion to instead identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular, with many reasoning that they stopped believing in the religion's teachings, that they didn't approve of negative teachings or treatment of LGBTQ+ people, or that their family was never that religious growing up. Christian controversies Over the last few years, controversies linked to Christian denominations have plagued the nation, including reports of child sexual abuse by the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Southern Baptist Convention. Christian churches have also been accused of supporting discriminatory actions against LGBTQ+ people and people belonging to other religious groups. In addition, there have been increasing concerns about Christian nationalism, the political ideology that asserts that America was founded to be a Christian nation. Although the majority of Americans still think that declaring the United States a Christian nation would go against the U.S. Constitution, studies found that most Republicans would be in favor of this change.
This study, designed and completed by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB), represents statistics for 149 religious bodies on the number of congregations within each county of the United States. Where available, also included are actual membership (as defined by the religious body) and total adherents figures. Participants included 149 Christian denominations, associations, or communions (including Latter-day Saints and Unitarian/Universalist groups); two specially defined groups of independent Christian churches; Jewish and Islamic totals; and counts of temples for six Eastern religions.
It is important to understand the methodology producing these data and its limitations. While these data contain membership data for many religious groups in the United States, including most of the larger groups, they do not include every group. It is recommended that users read the notes below. Users may also want to refer to a paper by Roger Finke and Christopher P. Scheitle that explains the "adjusted" adherence rates included in the file.
Visit the "/us-religion/sources-for-religious-congregations-membership-data" Target="_blank">frequently asked questions page for more information about the ARDA's religious congregation and membership data.
In the United States, the share of Americans affiliated with one of the three main white Christian religious denominations has been declining since 2006. While 23 percent of Americans identified as White evangelical Protestants in 2006, the number was 13.4 percent in 2023.
This statistic shows the percentage of church income by individual donations in the United States in 2008, by faith tradition. As of 2008, individual donations make up for about 97 percent of income of Conservative Protestant churches in the United States.
This statistic shows the sources of congregational income of churches in the United States in 2008, by faith tradition. As of 2008, trust funds, investments, bequets were the source of about 48 percent of Mainline Protestant churches in the United States.
This statistic shows the median donation per worshipper of churches in the United States in 2008, by faith tradition. As of 2008, the median donation per worshipper of Mainline Protestant churches was at 1,627 U.S. dollars per year.
Roughly 85 percent of Guinea’s population is Muslim, primarily of the Sunni school. Muslims constitute a majority in all four geographic regions. Christians, mostly Roman Catholic, comprise an 8 percent minority and are situated primarily in Conakry and eastern parts of the Forest Region.Other Christian denominations include Anglicans, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and various evangelical subgroups. Approximately 7 percent of inhabitants, located principally in the Forest Region, adhere exclusively to indigenous religious beliefs. Islam was introduced in Guinea in the 17th century in what is now the country’s northeast. Starting in the late 1720s, the Fulani ethnic group established a theocratic Muslim state in the mountainous Fouta Djallon region. The Fulani created an ethnoreligious social hierarchy which relegated non-Muslims to the lowest rungs of the social ladder. Though the state was ultimately assimilated into Guinea-proper, the Fulani have remained the country’s most ardent Muslim population, ahead of the Mandinka subgroup of the Mandé people. The non-Muslim Soso people were gradually pushed out of the Fouta Djallon due to Fulani oppression. The majority migrated to coastal parts of Lower Guinea between the 17th and 20thcenturies; an area comprised of the prefectures Boke, Boffa, Conakry, Coyah, Dubreka, Fria, Forecariah, Kindia, and Telimele. Roman Catholic missionaries made inroads into Soso communities following their (the Soso’s) establishment of trade ties with Europe. Many Guinean children, particularly in the Fouta Djallon region attend Islamic schools, which combine the government’s secular curriculum with Quranic studies. More devout Muslims student may enroll at a madrassah, or mosque school, which typically forego French for Arabic as the language of instruction, and adhere exclusively to a religious studies curriculum. Though Guinea’s constitution guarantees religious freedom, Islam enjoys demographic, social, and cultural dominance. In the past some Guineans have claimed the government favors Muslims in its policies, citing the cancellation of classes at publicly funded universities in accommodation of Friday prayers. Despite these and other reports of social discrimination against non-Muslims, religious freedoms are generally respected in the country.
According to a 2022 survey, 31 percent of Americans never attend church or synagogue, compared to 20 percent of Americans who attend every week.
Religiosity in the United States
Despite only about a fifth of Americans attending church or synagogue on a weekly basis, almost 40 percent consider themselves to be very religious. Additionally, states in the Deep South such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana had the most residents identifying as very religious. In contrast, New England states like Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire had the most people identifying as nonreligious.
A Christian nation?
Despite the official separation of church and state embedded in the Constitution, many would still consider the United States to be a Christian nation. Catholicism has the largest number of adherents in the United States, due to there being many different Protestant denominations. The Southern Baptist Convention had the largest number of Evangelical adherents, while the United Methodist Church was the largest Mainline Protestant denomination.
This statistic shows the educational attainment of religious groups in the United States as of January 2017, by faith tradition. In 2017, about 38 percent of Hindu believers in the United States had a post-graduate degree.
This statistic shows the share of Americans who were registered to vote in the United States in 2022, by religion. During the survey, ** percent of Muslim respondents reported that they are registered to vote.
From 2021 to 2023, Republicans were found much more likely than Democrats to be Protestants in the United States, with ** percent of surveyed Republicans identifying as Protestants compared to ** percent of Democrats. However, Democrats were found more likely than Republicans to identify with no religion, with ** percent of Democrats saying that they have no religious identity compared to ** percent of Republicans.
Christianity is the major religion in numerous African countries. As of 2024, around 96 percent of the population of Zambia was Christian, representing the highest percentage on the continent. Seychelles and Rwanda followed with roughly 95 percent and 94 percent of the population being Christian, respectively. While these countries present the highest percentages, Christianity was also prevalent in many other African nations. For instance, in South Africa, Christianity was the religion of nearly 85 percent of the people, while the share corresponded to 71 percent in Ghana. Religious variations across Africa Christianity and Islam are the most practiced religions in Africa. Christian adherents are prevalent below the Sahara, while North Africa is predominantly Muslim. In 2020, Christians accounted for around 60 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population, followed by Muslims with a share of roughly 30 percent. In absolute terms, there were approximately 650 million Christians in the region, a number forecast to increase to over one billion by 2050. In contrast, Islam is most prevalent in North Africa, being the religion of over 90 percent of the population in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya. Christianity in the world As opposed to other religions, Christianity is widely spread across continents worldwide. In fact, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe each account for around 25 percent of the global Christian population. By comparison, Asia-Pacific and North America make up 13 percent and 12 percent of Christians worldwide, respectively. In several regions, Christians also suffer persecution on religious grounds. Somalia and Libya presented the most critical situation in Africa in 2021, reporting the strongest suppression of Christians worldwide just after North Korea and Afghanistan.
The biggest religious organization in Iceland in 2023 was the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, with more than 227,000 members. Ranked second was the Roman Catholic Church with about 15,000 members. Moreover, 73,000 had another religious stance or did not state their life stance, and 30,000 did not belong to any religious organization.
In 2023, about 33 percent of Americans were Protestants, down from 69 percent in 1948. In that same year, about 22 percent of Americans were Catholic, while 22 percent said that they had no religion at all.
According to exit polling in ten key states of the 2024 presidential election in the United States, ** percent of Protestant Christian voters reported voting for Donald Trump. In comparison, only ** percent of Jewish voters reported voting for Trump.
This statistic shows U.S. prison chaplains estimations of the percentage of inmates belonging to different organized faiths and religions as of 2011. Chaplains surveyed reported that on average **** percent of inmates were of protestant faiths.
Additional information on religion in United States prisons
The religious affiliation of inmates in the United States, the country with most prisoners per head globally, is reasonably similar to the religious affiliations of the society overall. That said, the proportion of non-religious inmates and those declining to express their religious affiliation is smaller than the overall proportion. In contrast the number of Muslim inmates is disproportionately large in comparison with wider society. As a result a sizable share of prison chaplains identity as Muslim, catering to the preferences of the Muslim prison population.
Following the September 11, 2001 World Trade Centre attacks and the subsequent War on Terror launched by George W. Bush, religious extremism has been a target of public debate and policy. The debate has stretched into prisons particularly with the United States prison on Guantanamo Bay holding a number of suspected terrorists related to religious extremism. In turn, fears have been raised that prisons have become a hotbed for religious extremism.
Critics have argued that religious extremism has provided an unwarranted justification for the conviction of Muslims. Regardless of the supposed reason for their imprisonment, this disproportionate number presents a problem for United States policy makers.
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In 2020, Mexico had a protestant and evangelical population of ********** people, the second most followed religion in the country. The most southern Mexican state, Chiapas, concentrated almost *** million people of the religion. The Mexico State followed with around **** million evangelicals and protestants.