View source for Religion:Irreligion

{{Short description|Absence, indifference to, rejection of or hostility towards religion}}

'''Irreligion''' is the neglect or active rejection of [[Religion:Religion|religion]] and, depending on the definition, a simple absence of religion.

Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheism]] and [[Philosophy:Agnosticism|agnosticism]], [[Philosophy:Secular humanism|secular humanism]] and [[Antitheism|antitheism]]. Social scientists{{who|date=December 2022}} tend to define irreligion as a purely [[Philosophy:Naturalism|naturalist]] worldview that excludes a belief in anything [[Philosophy:Supernatural|supernatural]]. The broadest and loosest definition, serving as an upper limit, is the lack of religious identification, though many non-identifiers express metaphysical and even religious beliefs. The narrowest and strictest is subscribing to positive atheism.

According to the Pew Research Center's 2012 global study of 230 countries and territories, 16% of the world's population does not identify with any religion.<ref name="Pew Global">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/|title=The Global Religious Landscape|author=Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life|date=18 December 2012|access-date= 18 December 2012}}</ref> The population of the religiously unaffiliated, sometimes referred to as "nones", has grown significantly in recent years.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lipka |first1=Michael |title=7 Key Changes in the Global Religious Landscape |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/02/7-key-changes-in-the-global-religious-landscape/ |website=Pew Research Center |date=2 April 2015}}</ref> Measurement of irreligiosity requires great cultural sensitivity, especially outside the West, where the concepts of "religion" or "[[Philosophy:Secularity|the secular]]" are not always rooted in local culture.<ref>Zuckerman, Phil; Galen, Luke W.; Pasquale, Frank L. (2016). "Secularity Around the World". In: ''The Nonreligious: Understanding Secular People and Societies''. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 6–8, 13–15, 32–34.</ref>

== Etymology==
The term ''irreligion'' is a combination of the noun ''religion'' and the ''ir-'' form of the prefix ''in-'', signifying "not" (similar to ''irrelevant''). It was first attested in French as ''irréligion'' in 1527, then in English as ''irreligion'' in 1598. It was borrowed into [[Social:Dutch language|Dutch]] as ''irreligie'' in the 17th century, though it is not certain from which language.<ref name="INT">{{cite web |url=http://gtb.inl.nl/iWDB/search?actie=article_content&wdb=WNT&id=A009369 |title=Irreligie |work=Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie |publisher=Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal |date=2007 |access-date=29 January 2019}}</ref>

==Definition==
Irreligion is defined as a rejection of religion, but whether  it  is distinct from lack of religion is disputed. 
The Encyclopedia of religion and society defines it as the "rejection of [[Religion:Religion|religion]] in general or any of its more specific organized forms, as distinct from absence of religion";<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| editor-last=Swatos | editor-first=William H., Jr. |title=Irreligion|first=Colin|last=Campbell|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of religion and society | publisher=AltaMira Press | publication-place=Walnut Creek, Calif. | date=1998 | isbn=0-7619-8956-0 | oclc=37361790 | page=239|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6TMFoMFe-D8C&pg=PA239}}</ref> while the Oxford English dictionary defines it as want of religion; hostility to or disregard of religious principles; irreligious conduct;<ref>{{Cite OED|irreligion|id=99697}}</ref> and the  Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as "neglectful of religion : lacking religious emotions, doctrines, or practices".<ref>Merriam Webster, irreligious</ref>

==Types==

* [[Philosophy:Agnostic atheism|Agnostic atheism]] is a philosophical position that encompasses both [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheism]] and [[Philosophy:Agnosticism|agnosticism]]. Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity and agnostic because they claim that the existence of a [[Religion:Deity|deity]] is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact.
* [[Philosophy:Agnosticism|Agnosticism]] is the view that the existence of God, of the [[Philosophy:Divinity|divine]] or the [[Philosophy:Supernatural|supernatural]] is unknown or [[Physics:Uncertainty|unknowable]].
* [[Philosophy:Alatrism|Alatrism]] or alatry ([[Social:Greek language|Greek]]: from the privative ''ἀ''- + ''λατρεία (latreia)'' = worship) is the recognition of the existence of one or more gods, but with a deliberate lack of worship of any deity. Typically, it includes the belief that religious rituals have no supernatural significance, and that gods ignore all prayers and worship.
* [[Religion:Antireligion|Antireligion]] is opposition or rejection of religion of any kind.
* [[Philosophy:Apatheism|Apatheism]] is the attitude of [[Philosophy:Apathy|apathy]] or indifference towards the existence or non-existence of god/(s).
* [[Philosophy:Atheism|Atheism]] is the lack of belief that any deities exist or, in a narrower sense, positive atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. There are ranges from [[Philosophy:Negative and positive atheism|negative and positive atheism]].
* [[Antitheism]] is the opposition to [[Philosophy:Theism|theism]]. The term has had a range of applications. It typically refers to direct opposition to the belief in any [[Religion:Deity|deity]]. 
* [[Philosophy:Deism|Deism]] is the [[Philosophy:Philosophy|philosophical position]] and [[Philosophy:Rationalism|rationalistic]] theology that rejects [[Unsolved:Revelation|revelation]] as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that [[Empirical evidence|empirical]] [[Philosophy:Reason|reason]] and [[Observation|observation]] of the [[Earth:Nature|natural world]] are exclusively logical, reliable, and sufficient to determine the existence of a [[Religion:God|Supreme Being]] as the [[Religion:Creator deity|creator of the universe]].
* [[Philosophy:Freethought|Freethought]] holds that positions regarding truth should be formed on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism, rather than authority, tradition, revelation, or other dogma.
* [[Philosophy:Ignosticism|Ignosticism]], also known as ''igtheism'', is the idea that the question of the [[Philosophy:Existence of God|existence of God]] is meaningless because the word "God" has no coherent and unambiguous definition.
* [[Philosophy:Naturalism|Naturalism]] is the idea or belief that only natural (as opposed to supernatural or spiritual) laws and forces operate in the universe. 
* [[Philosophy:Secular humanism|Secular humanism]] is a system of thought that prioritizes human rather than divine matters.
* [[Philosophy:Post-theism|Post-theism]] is a variant of [[Philosophy:Nontheism|nontheism]] that proposes that the division of [[Philosophy:Theism|theism]] vs.  [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheism]] is obsolete, that God belongs to a stage of human development now past. Within nontheism, post-theism can be contrasted with [[Antitheism|antitheism]].
* [[Philosophy:Secularism|Secularism]] is overwhelmingly used to describe a political conviction in favour of minimizing religion in the public sphere, that may be advocated regardless of personal [[Religion:Religiosity|religiosity]]. Yet it is sometimes, especially in the United States, also a synonym for naturalism or atheism.<ref>Jacques Berlinerblau, ''How to be Secular: A Field Guide for Religious Moderates, Atheists and Agnostics'' (2012, Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt). p. 53.</ref>
* "[[Philosophy:Spiritual but not religious|Spiritual but not religious]]" (SBNR) is a designation coined by Robert C. Fuller for people who reject traditional or organized religion but have strong metaphysical beliefs. The SBNR may be included under the definition of nonreligion,<ref>Zuckerman, Galen et al., p. 119.</ref> but are sometimes classified as a wholly distinct group.<ref>Zuckerman, Shook, (in bibliography), p. 575.</ref>
* [[Philosophy:Theological noncognitivism|Theological noncognitivism]] is the argument that religious language – specifically, words such as ''God'' – are not cognitively meaningful. It is sometimes considered as synonymous with [[Philosophy:Ignosticism|ignosticism]].
* [[Philosophy:Transtheism|Transtheism]], refers to a system of thought or [[Philosophy:Religious philosophy|religious philosophy]] that is neither [[Philosophy:Theism|theistic]] nor [[Philosophy:Atheism|atheistic]], but is beyond them.

==Human rights==
In 1993, the UN's human rights committee declared that article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights "protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minorityrights.org/3273/normative-instruments/ccpr-general-comment-22-300793-on-iccpr-article-18.html |title=CCPR General Comment 22: 30/07/93 on ICCPR Article 18 |work=Minorityrights.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116043952/http://www.minorityrights.org/3273/normative-instruments/ccpr-general-comment-22-300793-on-iccpr-article-18.html |archive-date=2015-01-16 }}</ref> The committee further stated that "the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views." Signatories to the convention are barred from "the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers" to recant their beliefs or convert.<ref name="fdih1">{{cite web |date=1 August 2003|title=Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran|author=International Federation for Human Rights|publisher=fdih.org|access-date=3 March 2009|url=http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/ir0108a.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law2.byu.edu/lawreview/archives/2002/2/dav2.pdf |title=The Evolution of Religious Liberty as a Universal Human Right |access-date=3 March 2009 |last=Davis |first=Derek H. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723210828/http://www.law2.byu.edu/lawreview/archives/2002/2/dav2.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}</ref>

Most democracies protect the freedom of religion, and it is largely implied in respective legal systems that those who do not believe or observe any religion are allowed [[Philosophy:Freedom of thought|freedom of thought]].

A noted exception to ambiguity, explicitly allowing non-religion, is Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China (as adopted in 1982), which states that "No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/law/const03.html |title=Chapter two – the fundamental rights and duties of citizens |access-date=2013-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323100707/http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/law/const03.html |archive-date=2018-03-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Article 46 of China's 1978 Constitution was even more explicit, stating that "Citizens enjoy freedom to believe in religion and freedom not to believe in religion and to propagate atheism."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%AA%E6%B3%95_(1978%E5%B9%B4)#%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%89%E7%AB%A0_%E5%85%AC%E6%B0%91%E7%9A%84%E5%9F%BA%E6%9C%AC%E6%9D%83%E5%88%A9%E5%92%8C%E4%B9%89%E5%8A%A1|trans-title=People's Republic of China 1978 Constitution|script-title=zh:中华人民共和国宪法 (1978年)|language=zh|year=1978|access-date=24 May 2021}}</ref>

==Demographics==
[[File:Countries by percentage of Unaffiliated–Pew Research 2010.svg|thumb|upright=2.5|Nonreligious population by country, 2010<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/|title=Religious Composition by Country, 2010–2050|date=2 April 2015|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-27}}</ref>]]
Although 11 countries listed below have nonreligious majorities, it does not necessary correlate with non-identification. For example, 58% of the Swedish population identify with the Lutheran Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/statistik|title=Statistik|website=www.svenskakyrkan.se|date=15 November 2023 }}</ref> Also, though Scandinavian countries have among the highest measures of nonreligiosity and even atheism in Europe, 47% of atheists who live in those countries are still formally members of the national churches.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Zuckerman|editor1-first=Phil|title=Atheism and Secularity Vol.2|date=2010|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0313351815|chapter=Ch. 9 Atheism And Secularity: The Scandinavian Paradox}}</ref>

Determining objective irreligion, as part of societal or individual levels of [[Philosophy:Secularity|secularity]] and religiosity, requires cultural sensitivity from researchers. This is especially so outside the [[Social:Western culture|West]], where the Western Christian concepts of "religious" and "secular" are not rooted in local civilization. Many East Asians identify as "without religion" (''wú zōngjiào'' in Chinese, ''mu shūkyō'' in Japanese, ''mu jong-gyo'' in [[Social:Korean language|Korean]]), but "religion" in that context refers only to [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]] or Christianity. Most of the people "without religion" practice [[Philosophy:Shinto|Shinto]] and other [[Religion:Folk religion|folk religion]]s. In the [[Religion:Muslim world|Muslim world]], those who claim to be "not religious" mostly imply not strictly observing Islam, and in Israel, being "secular" means not strictly observing [[Religion:Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Judaism]]. Vice versa, many American Jews share the worldviews of nonreligious people though affiliated with a Jewish denomination, and in Russia, growing identification with Eastern Orthodoxy is mainly motivated by cultural and nationalist considerations, without much concrete belief.<ref>Zuckerman, Galen et al., "Secularity Around the World". pp. 30–32, 37–40, 44, 50–51.</ref>

A Pew 2015 global projection study for religion and nonreligion, projects that between 2010 and 2050, there will be some initial increases of the unaffiliated followed by a decline by 2050 due to lower global fertility rates among this demographic.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010–2050|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/|publisher=Pew Research Center|date=5 April 2012}}</ref> Sociologist [[Biography:Phil Zuckerman|Phil Zuckerman]]'s global studies on atheism have indicated that global atheism may be in decline due to irreligious countries having the lowest birth rates in the world and religious countries having higher birth rates in general.<ref name=zucker>{{cite book|last1=Zuckerman|first1=Phil|editor1-last=Martin|editor1-first=Michael|title=The Cambridge Companion to Atheism|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00mart_852|url-access=limited|date=2007|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|isbn=978-0521603676|page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00mart_852/page/n79 59]}}</ref> Since religion and fertility are positively related and vice versa, non-religious identity is expected to decline as a proportion of the global population throughout the 21st century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ellis |first1=Lee |last2=Hoskin |first2=Anthony W. |last3=Dutton |first3=Edward |last4=Nyborg |first4=Helmuth |title=The Future of Secularism: a Biologically Informed Theory Supplemented with Cross-Cultural Evidence |journal=Evolutionary Psychological Science |date=8 March 2017 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=224–43 |doi=10.1007/s40806-017-0090-z|s2cid=88509159 }}</ref> By 2060, according to projections, the number of unaffiliated will increase by over 35 million, but the percentage will decrease to 13% because the total population will grow faster.<ref>{{cite web|title=Why People With No Religion Are Projected To Decline As A Share Of The World's Population|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/03/why-people-with-no-religion-are-projected-to-decline-as-a-share-of-the-worlds-population/|publisher=Pew Research Center|date=7 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Changing Global Religious Landscape: Babies Born to Muslims will Begin to Outnumber Christian Births by 2035; People with No Religion Face a Birth Dearth |website=Pew Research Center |date=5 April 2017|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2017/04/05/the-changing-global-religious-landscape/}}</ref>

According to Pew Research Center's 2012 global study of 230 countries and territories, 16% of the world's population is not affiliated with a religion, while 84% are affiliated.<ref name="Pew Global"/> A 2012 Worldwide Independent Network/Gallup International Association report on a poll from 57 countries reported that 59% of the world's population identified as religious person, 23% as not religious person, 13% as "convinced atheists", and also a 9% decrease in identification as "religious" when compared to the 2005 average from 39 countries.<ref name="GallupInt2012">{{cite web|url=http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf |title=Global Index of Religion and Atheism |publisher=WIN/Gallup International |access-date=13 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016062403/http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2012 }}</ref> Their follow-up report, based on a poll in 2015, found that 63% of the globe identified as religious person, 22% as not religious person, and 11% as "convinced atheists".<ref name=GallupInt2015>{{cite web|title=Losing our Religion? Two Thirds of People Still Claim to be Religious|date=13 April 2015 |publisher=WIN/Gallup International |url=http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/290/file/290.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430232945/http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/290/file/290.pdf|archive-date=30 April 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Their 2017 report found that 62% of the globe identified as religious person, 25% as not religious person, and 9% as "convinced atheists".<ref>{{cite web |title=Religion prevails in the world|publisher=WIN/Gallup International|date=14 November 2017 |url=http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/370/file/370.pdf |access-date=2018-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114113506/http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/370/file/370.pdf |archive-date=2017-11-14}}</ref> However, researchers have advised caution with the WIN/Gallup International figures since other surveys which use the same wording, have conducted many waves for decades, and have a bigger sample size, such as World Values Survey; have consistently reached lower figures for the number of atheists worldwide.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keysar|first1=Ariela|last2=Navarro-Rivera|first2=Juhem|editor1-last=Bullivant|editor1-first=Stephen|editor2-last=Ruse|editor2-first=Michael |title=The Oxford Handbook of Atheism|date=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199644650 |chapter=36. A World of Atheism: Global Demographics}}</ref>  In 2020, the World Religion Database estimated that the countries with the highest percentage of atheists were North Korea and Sweden.<ref name="C 2022">{{cite web | title=Atheist World Rankings | website=ARDA | date=2022-04-19 | url=https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/np-sort?var=ADH_704#S_1 | access-date=2022-10-28}}</ref>

Being nonreligious is not necessarily equivalent to being an atheist or agnostic. Pew Research Center's global study from 2012 noted that many of the nonreligious actually have some religious beliefs. For example, they observed that "belief in God or a higher power is shared by 7% of Chinese unaffiliated adults, 30% of French unaffiliated adults and 68% of unaffiliated U.S. adults."<ref name="Pew Global Unaffiliated 12/2012" /> Being unaffiliated with a religion on polls does not automatically mean objectively nonreligious since there are, for example, unaffiliated people who fall under religious measures and vice versa.<ref name="Unaff Yet Rel">{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Todd |last2=Zurlo |first2=Gina |editor1-last=Cipriani |editor1-first=Roberto |editor2-last=Garelli |editor2-first=Franco |title=Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion: Volume 7: Sociology of Atheism |date=2016 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004317536 |pages=56The intersection of religion among the global uaffliated –60 |chapter=Unaffiliated, Yet Religious: A Methodological and Demographic Analysis}}</ref> Out of the global nonreligious population, 76% reside in Asia and the Pacific, while the remainder reside in Europe (12%), North America (5%), Latin America and the Caribbean (4%), sub-Saharan Africa (2%) and the Middle East and North Africa (less than 1%).<ref name="Pew Global Unaffiliated 12/2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-unaffiliated.aspx |title=Religiously Unaffiliated |work=The Global Religious Landscape |publisher=Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life |date=18 December 2012 }}</ref>

The term "'''nones'''" is sometimes used in the U.S. to refer to those who are unaffiliated with any organized religion. This use derives from surveys of religious affiliation, in which "None" (or "None of the above") is typically the last choice. Since this status refers to lack of organizational affiliation rather than lack of personal belief, it is a more specific concept than irreligion. A 2015 Gallup poll concluded that in the U.S. "nones" were the only "religious" group that was growing as a percentage of the population.<ref name="gallup">{{cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/187955/percentage-christians-drifting-down-high.aspx|title=Percentage of Christians in U.S. Drifting Down, but Still High|date=24 December 2015|website=Gallup.com}}</ref>

{{Excerpt|List_of_countries_by_irreligion|Countries and regions}}

===By population===

The {{font color | green | Pew Research Centre}} in the table below reflects "religiously unaffiliated" which "include atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion in surveys".

The {{font color | red | Zuckerman}} data on the table below only reflect the number of people who have an absence of belief in a deity only (atheists, agnostics). Does not include the broader number of people who do not identify with a religion such as deists, spiritual but not religious, pantheists, New Age spiritualism, etc.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;"
|-
! Country
! {{font color | green | Pew (2012)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-unaffiliated/|title = Religiously Unaffiliated|date = 18 December 2012}}</ref>
! {{font color | red | Zuckerman (2004)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-cambridge-companion-to-atheism-d187156887.html|title = The Cambridge Companion to Atheism – PDF Drive}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ibb.co/nBN7JT6|title = 81-F77-Aeb-A404-447-C-8-B95-Dd57-Adc11-E98}}</ref>
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|010|{{Flag|China}}}} 
|700,680,000
|{{Sort|001|103,907,840 – 181,838,720}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|023|{{Flag|India}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|051|102,870,000}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|026|{{Flag|Japan}}}} 
|72,120,000
| {{Sort|002|81,493,120 – 82,766,450}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|050|{{Flag|Vietnam}}}} 
|26,040,000
| {{Sort|003|66,978,900}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|037|{{Flag|Russia}}}} 
|23,180,000
| {{Sort|004|34,507,680 – 69,015,360}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|020|{{Flag|Germany}}}} 
|20,350,000
|{{Sort|005|33,794,250 – 40,388,250}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|019|{{Flag|France}}}} 
|17,580,000
|{{Sort|006|25,982,320 – 32,628,960}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|047|{{Flag|United Kingdom}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|007|18,684,010 – 26,519,240}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|041|{{Flag|South Korea}}}} 
|22,350,000
|{{Sort|008|14,579,400 – 25,270,960}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|046|{{Flag|Ukraine}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|009|9,546,400}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|048|{{Flag|United States}}}} 
|50,980,000
|{{Sort|010|8,790,840 – 26,822,520}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|032|{{Flag|Netherlands}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|011|6,364,020 – 7,179,920}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|009|{{Flag|Canada}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|012|6,176,520 – 9,752,400}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|042|{{Flag|Spain}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|013|6,042,150 – 9,667,440}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|045|{{Flag|Taiwan}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|014|5,460,000}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|045|{{Flag|Hong Kong}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|014|5,240,000}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|013|{{Flag|Czech Republic}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|015|5,328,940 – 6,250,121}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|004|{{Flag|Australia}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|016|4,779,120 – 4,978,250}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|007|{{Flag|Belgium}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|017|4,346,160 – 4,449,640}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|043|{{Flag|Sweden}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|018|4,133,560 – 7,638,100}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|025|{{Flag|Italy}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|019|3,483,420 – 8,708,550}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|034|{{Flag|North Korea}}}} 
|17,350,000
| {{Sort|020|3,404,700}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|022|{{Flag|Hungary}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|021|3,210,240 – 4,614,720}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|008|{{Flag|Bulgaria}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|022|2,556,120 – 3,007,200}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|014|{{Flag|Denmark}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|023|2,327,590 – 4,330,400}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|021|{{Flag|Turkey}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|025|1,956,990 - 6,320,550}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|006|{{Flag|Belarus}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|024|1,752,870}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|021|{{Flag|Greece}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|025|1,703,680}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|027|{{Flag|Kazakhstan}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|026|1,665,840 – 1,817,280}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|002|{{Flag|Argentina}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|027|1,565,800 – 3,131,600}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|005|{{Flag|Austria}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|028|1,471,500 – 2,125,500}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|018|{{Flag|Finland}}}}
|
| {{Sort|029|1,460,200 – 3,129,000}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|035|{{Flag|Norway}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|030|1,418,250 – 3,294,000}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|044|{{Flag|Switzerland}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|031|1,266,670 – 2,011,770}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|024|{{Flag|Israel}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|032|929,850 – 2,293,630}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|033|{{Flag|New Zealand}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|033|798,800 – 878,680}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|012|{{Flag|Cuba}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|034|791,630}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|040|{{Flag|Slovenia}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|035|703,850 – 764,180}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|016|{{Flag|Estonia}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|036|657,580}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|015|{{Flag|Dominican Republic}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|037|618,380}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|038|{{Flag|Singapore}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|038|566,020}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|039|{{Flag|Slovakia}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|039|542,400 – 1,518,720}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|030|{{Flag|Lithuania}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|040|469,040}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|029|{{Flag|Latvia}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|041|461,200 – 668,740}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|036|{{Flag|Portugal}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|042|420,960 – 947,160}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|003|{{Flag|Armenia}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|043|118,740}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|049|{{Flag|Uruguay}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|044|407,880}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|028|{{Flag|Kyrgyzstan}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|045|355,670}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|011|{{Flag|Croatia}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|046|314,790}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|001|{{Flag|Albania}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|047|283,600}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|031|{{Flag|Mongolia}}}} 
|
| {{Sort|048|247,590}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|023|{{Flag|Iceland}}}} 
|
|{{Sort|050|47,040 – 67,620}}
|-
|align="left"|{{Sort|051|{{Flag|Brazil}}}}
|15,410,000
|
|}

==Historical trends==
According to political/social scientist Ronald F. Inglehart, "influential thinkers from [[Biography:Karl Marx|Karl Marx]] to [[Biography:Max Weber|Max Weber]] to [[Biography:Émile Durkheim|Émile Durkheim]] predicted that the spread of scientific knowledge would dispel religion throughout the world", but religion continued to prosper in most places during the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref name="Inglehart-sept-2020">{{cite journal |last1=Inglehart |first1=Ronald F. |title=Giving Up on God The Global Decline of Religion |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=September–October 2020 |issue=September/October 2020 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2020-08-11/religion-giving-god |access-date=20 September 2020}}</ref> Inglehart and Pippa Norris argue faith is "more emotional than cognitive", and advance an alternative thesis termed "existential security." They postulate that rather than knowledge or ignorance of scientific learning, it is the weakness or vulnerability of a society that determines religiosity. They claim that increased poverty and chaos make religious values more important to a society, while wealth and security diminish its role. As need for religious support diminishes, there is less willingness to "accept its constraints, including keeping women in the kitchen and gay people in the closet".<ref name="Ikenberry-review-2004">{{cite journal |last1=Ikenberry |first1=G. John |title=Book review. Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=November–December 2004 |issue=November/December 2004 |doi=10.2307/20034150 |jstor=20034150 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2004-11-01/sacred-and-secular-religion-and-politics-worldwide |access-date=20 September 2020}}</ref>

===Prior to the 1980s===
Rates of people identifying as non-religious began rising in most societies as least as early as the turn of the 20th century.<ref name="nones">{{cite journal |last1=Vernon |first1=Glenn M. |title=The Religious "Nones": A Neglected Category |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |date=1968 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=219–229 |doi=10.2307/1384629|jstor=1384629 }}</ref> In 1968, sociologist Glenn M. Vernon wrote that US census respondents who identified as "no religion" were insufficiently defined because they were [[Philosophy:Definition#problems|defined in terms of a negative]]. He contrasted the label with the term "independent" for political affiliation, which still includes people who participate in [[Social:Civic engagement|civic activities]]. He suggested this difficulty in definition was partially due to the dilemma of defining religious activity beyond membership, attendance, or other identification with a formal religious group.<ref name="nones"/> During the 1970s, social scientists still tended to describe irreligion from a perspective that considered religion as normative for humans. Irreligion was described in terms of hostility, reactivity, or indifference toward religion, and or as developing from radical theologies.<ref name=schumaker>{{cite book |last1=Schumaker |first1=John F. |title=Religion and Mental Health |date=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=0-19-506985-4 |page=54}}</ref>

===1981–2019===
{{One source section
| date = July 2022
}}
In a study of religious trends in 49 countries from 1981 to 2019, Inglehart and Norris found an overall increase in religiosity from 1981 to 2007. Respondents in 33 of 49 countries rated themselves higher on a scale from one to ten when asked how important God was in their lives. This increase occurred in most former communist and developing countries, but also in some high-income countries. A sharp reversal of the global trend occurred from 2007 to 2019, when 43 out of 49 countries studied became less religious. This reversal appeared across most of the world.<ref name="Inglehart-sept-2020"/> The United States was a dramatic example of declining religiosity{{snd}}with the mean rating of importance of religion dropping from 8.2 to 4.6{{snd}}while India was a major exception. Research in 1989 recorded disparities in religious adherence for different faith groups, with people from Christian and tribal traditions leaving religion at a greater rate than those from Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist faiths.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duke |first1=James T. |last2=Johnson |first2=Barry L. |title=The Stages of Religious Transformation: A Study of 200 Nations |journal=Review of Religious Research |date=1989 |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=209–224 |doi=10.2307/3511506|jstor=3511506 }}</ref>

Inglehart and Norris speculate that the decline in religiosity comes from a decline in the social need for traditional gender and sexual norms, ("virtually all world religions instilled" pro-fertility norms such as "producing as many children as possible and discouraged divorce, abortion, homosexuality, contraception, and any sexual behavior not linked to reproduction" in their adherents for centuries) as life expectancy rose and infant mortality dropped. They also argue that the idea that religion was necessary to prevent a collapse of social cohesion and public morality was belied by lower levels of corruption and murder in less religious countries. They argue that both of these trends are based on the theory that as societies develop, survival becomes more secure: starvation, once pervasive, becomes uncommon; life expectancy increases; murder and other forms of violence diminish. As this level of security rises, there is less social/economic need for the high birthrates that religion encourages and less emotional need for the comfort of religious belief.<ref name="Inglehart-sept-2020"/> Change in acceptance of "divorce, abortion, and homosexuality" has been measured by the World Values Survey and shown to have grown throughout the world outside of Muslim-majority countries.<ref name="Inglehart-sept-2020"/>

==See also==
* [[Religion:Antireligion|Antireligion]]
* Apostasy
* [[Philosophy:Faith deconstruction|Faith deconstruction]]
* Importance of religion by country
* [[Religion:Infidel|Infidel]]
* Laїcité
* [[Philosophy:Pantheism|Pantheism]]
* [[Philosophy:Post-theism|Post-theism]]
* [[Religion:Secular religion|Secular religion]]
* [[Philosophy:Transtheism|Transtheism]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{refend}}

==External links==

* The ''[https://research.kent.ac.uk/understandingunbelief/ Understanding Unbelief]'' program in the [[Organization:University of Kent|University of Kent]]. 
* [http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20141219-will-religion-ever-disappear "Will religion ever disappear?"], from BBC Future, by Rachel Nuwer, in December 2014


{{Irreligion}}

[[Category:Irreligion| ]]

{{Sourceattribution|Irreligion|1}}