According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, over ** percent of respondents reported no religious affiliation, while approximately ** percent identified as Christians and ** percent as Buddhists. Religious population South Korea is a multi-religious society where Christianity, Buddhism, and various other religions coexist with shamanism. According to a previous study, the domestic religious population appeared to decline over time after reaching its peak in 2005, at nearly ** million people. In contrast, the share of people who are religiously unaffiliated has increased in recent years. Within the last two decades, the religiously unaffiliated population has increased from about ** percent to more than ** percent. Shamanism Shamanism has continued to significantly influence the daily lives of many South Koreans. According to a survey conducted in 2023, about ** percent of respondents reported having consulted a fortune-teller within the past year. Roughly ** percent of those respondents were already affiliated with a religion.

The statistic shows the population distribution in South Korea in 2015, sorted by religion. In 2015, approximately **** million people in South Korea were not following any religions, while **** millions were following Protestantism.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2021, around ** percent of respondents in their 60s identified with a religion. The age group between ** and ** showed the lowest level of religious affiliation.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2021, around ** percent of women and ** percent of men identified with a religion. Throughout the surveyed period, women were more likely to be affiliated with a religion than men.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, around **** percent of respondents identified with a religion. This was a decrease of about ** percentage points compared to two decades ago.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, the cities of Busan and Ulsan, as well as the Gyeongnam Province, had the highest share of Buddhists, making up around ** percent of the population in this region. In Seoul, Protestantism was the predominant religion, accounting for about ** percent of the city's population.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, around **** percent of respondents reported not affiliating with any religion. The share of religiously unaffiliated has increased over the past few years.

Regression model for distrust in foreigners in South Korea.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, about ** percent of respondents in their *** were affiliated with Protestantism, which was the highest share among all age groups. Similarly, the highest percentage of Catholics and Buddhists was also found among people in their ***.

Regression model for trust in neighbours in South Korea.

PTZ Livestream Church Camera Market Outlook

According to our latest research, the Global PTZ Livestream Church Camera market size was valued at $1.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $3.8 billion by 2033, expanding at a robust CAGR of 13.5% during the forecast period of 2025 to 2033. The primary driver fueling this remarkable growth is the accelerating adoption of high-quality livestreaming solutions by religious organizations worldwide, aiming to enhance congregation engagement and broaden outreach beyond physical church walls. Churches are increasingly leveraging advanced PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera technologies to deliver immersive, seamless, and interactive worship experiences, thereby meeting the evolving digital preferences of their communities. This trend is underpinned by the convergence of affordable high-resolution cameras, reliable network infrastructure, and a growing emphasis on hybrid worship models in the post-pandemic era.

Regional Outlook

North America currently dominates the PTZ Livestream Church Camera market, accounting for the largest revenue share of approximately 38% in 2024. This leadership is attributed to the region’s mature technology infrastructure, widespread digital literacy, and strong presence of faith-based organizations with substantial investment capacities. The United States, in particular, has witnessed a surge in demand for both indoor and outdoor PTZ cameras, driven by the proliferation of megachurches and the rapid shift toward hybrid and online worship services. Moreover, supportive regulatory frameworks, tax incentives for non-profit organizations, and a well-established ecosystem of AV integrators and solution providers have further cemented North America's position as the market pacesetter.

In contrast, the Asia Pacific region is emerging as the fastest-growing market for PTZ Livestream Church Cameras, with a projected CAGR exceeding 16% over the forecast period. The region’s growth trajectory is propelled by increasing investments in digital transformation initiatives by religious institutions, particularly in countries such as South Korea, the Philippines, and India. Rising internet penetration, expanding Christian populations, and the proliferation of large-scale religious events are catalyzing the adoption of advanced livestreaming technologies. Furthermore, regional governments and private entities are investing in digital inclusion programs, making high-quality AV equipment more accessible to smaller churches and remote communities, thereby accelerating market penetration.

Meanwhile, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa represent promising yet challenging markets for PTZ Livestream Church Cameras. Adoption in these regions is influenced by localized demand patterns, infrastructural disparities, and varying degrees of digital readiness among faith-based organizations. While urban congregations are increasingly embracing livestreaming to expand outreach, rural and remote areas face hurdles such as inconsistent power supply, limited internet access, and budgetary constraints. Nevertheless, ongoing policy reforms, international missionary support, and the entry of global AV brands are gradually addressing these challenges, paving the way for steady adoption and market expansion in these emerging economies.

Report Scope

Abstract

The World Values Survey (WVS) is an international research program devoted to the scientific and academic study of social, political, economic, religious and cultural values of people in the world. The project’s goal is to assess which impact values stability or change over time has on the social, political and economic development of countries and societies. The project grew out of the European Values Study and was started in 1981 by its Founder and first President (1981-2013) Professor Ronald Inglehart from the University of Michigan (USA) and his team, and since then has been operating in more than 120 world societies. The main research instrument of the project is a representative comparative social survey which is conducted globally every 5 years. Extensive geographical and thematic scope, free availability of survey data and project findings for broad public turned the WVS into one of the most authoritative and widely-used cross-national surveys in the social sciences. At the moment, WVS is the largest non-commercial cross-national empirical time-series investigation of human beliefs and values ever executed.

The project’s overall aim is to analyze people’s values, beliefs and norms in a comparative cross-national and over-time perspective. To reach this aim, project covers a broad scope of topics from the field of Sociology, Political Science, International Relations, Economics, Public Health, Demography, Anthropology, Social Psychology and etc. In addition, WVS is the only academic study which covers the whole scope of global variations, from very poor to very rich societies in all world’s main cultural zones.

The WVS combines two institutional components. From one side, WVS is a scientific program and social research infrastructure that explores people’s values and beliefs. At the same time, WVS comprises an international network of social scientists and researchers from 120 world countries and societies. All national teams and individual researchers involved into the implementation of the WVS constitute the community of Principal Investigators (PIs). All PIs are members of the WVS.

The WVS seeks to help scientists and policy makers understand changes in the beliefs, values and motivations of people throughout the world. Thousands of political scientists, sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists and economists have used these data to analyze such topics as economic development, democratization, religion, gender equality, social capital, and subjective well-being. The WVS findings have proved to be valuable for policy makers seeking to build civil society and stable political institutions in developing countries. The WVS data is also frequently used by governments around the world, scholars, students, journalists and international organizations such as the World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Headquarters in New York (USA). The WVS data has been used in thousands of scholarly publications and the findings have been reported in leading media such as Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Economist, the World Development Report, the World Happiness Report and the UN Human Development Report.

The World Values Survey Association is governed by the Executive Committee, the Scientific Advisory Committee, and the General Assembly, under the terms of the Constitution.

Strategic goals for the 7th wave included:

Expansion of territorial coverage from 60 countries in WVS-6 to 80 in WVS-7; Deepening collaboration within the international development community; Deepening collaboration within NGOs, academic institutions and research foundations; Updating the WVS-7 questionnaire with new topics & items covering new social phenomena and emerging processes of value change; Expanding the 7th wave WVS with data useful for monitoring the SDGs; Expanding capacity and resources for survey fieldwork in developing countries. The 7th wave continued monitoring cultural values, attitudes and beliefs towards gender, family, and religion; attitudes and experience of poverty; education, health, and security; social tolerance and trust; attitudes towards multilateral institutions; cultural differences and similarities between regions and societies. In addition, the WVS-7 questionnaire has been elaborated with the inclusion of such new topics as the issues of justice, moral principles, corruption, accountability and risk, migration, national security and global governance.

For more information on the history of the WVSA, visit https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp ›Who we are › History of the WVSA.

Geographic coverage

South Korea.

The WVS has just completed wave 7 data that comprises 64 surveys conducted in 2017-2022. With 64 countries and societies around the world and more than 80,000 respondents, this is the latest resource made available for the research community.

The WVS-7 survey was launched in January 2017 with Bolivia becoming the first country to conduct WVS-7. In the course of 2017 and 2018, WVS-7 has been conducted in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Andorra, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Nigeria, Iraq and over dozen of other world countries. Geographic coverage has also been expanded to several new countries included into the WVS for the first time, such as Bolivia, Greece, Macao SAR, Maldives, Myanmar, Nicaragua, and Tajikistan.

Analysis unit

Household, Individual

Sampling procedure

The sample type preferable for using in the World Values Survey is a full probability sample of the population aged 18 years and older. A detailed description of the sampling methodology is provided in the country specific sample design documentation available for download from WVS.

A detailed description of the sampling methodology is provided in the South Korea 2018 sample design documentation available for download from WVS and also from the Downloads section of the metadata.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

The survey was fielded in the following language(s): Korean. The questionnaire is available for download from the WVS website.

The statistic shows the number of religious people in South Korea from 1985 to 2015. In 2015, approximately ***** million people in South Korea considered themselves religious, decreased from ***** millions in 2005.

Regression model for distrust in strangers in South Korea.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2022, about ** percent of respondents identified as Protestants. This was a decrease from about ** percent in the previous year.

In 2023, the Catholic population in South Korea reached approximately **** million, showing a slight increase from the previous year. The growth rate of Catholics has been slowing down in recent years.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, about ** percent of respondents who were raised in the Christian faith reported that they no longer identify with any religion. Similarly, around ** percent of respondents who were raised as Buddhists expressed a similar shift in their religious identification. In total, about ** percent of respondents raised in a different religious tradition stated that they no longer identify with any specific religion.