How can we explain the movement of religious disaffiliation that seems to be happening today in dozens of countries—though culturally very different? What new forms of spirituality are emerging to fill the decline of traditional religions among the new generations? These are some of the many questions that arise when reading the report from the American research institute Pew Research Center on religious changes across the planet.

With 80,000 responses* from 36 countries — in North America, Asia, Europe — this unprecedented survey defines “religious change” as any shift from a childhood religious identity to another in adulthood, including the complete abandonment of any religious affiliation. A notable fact: it reveals that “Christianity and Buddhism have experienced especially large losses from this 'religious switching', while rising numbers of adults have no religious affiliation,” stressed Kirsten Lesage, Kelsey Jo Starr, and William Miner, the three researchers who worked on the report.

A general movement of “disaffiliation”

The results show that, in many countries – with rather high living standards – in East Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas, more than 20% of adults have changed their religious affiliation since childhood. South Korea holds the record at the top of the list, with nearly 50% of the sample population concerned. Another notable figure: according to the report, nearly 51% of surveyed South Koreans raised in the Christian faith (without specifying the denominations) still say they are Christians — versus 49% who have moved away. Conversely, 9% of originally atheist South Koreans now identify with a particular religion.

Next comes Spain, where 87% of adults who participated in the survey say they were raised in Christianity, while only 54% of the national sample still identify as Christian. “The phenomenon of disaffiliation – that is, people raised in a religious tradition but no longer claim any today – represents the majority of observed changes,” confirmed the study.

In countries like Germany, France, and the Netherlands, about 30% of the total population has left Christianity. In Germany, a striking shift appears: for each person who becomes Christian, nearly 20 others leave Christianity.

While 67% of those surveyed say they were raised as Christians, only 41% now declare themselves Christian. According to the study's data, the rise in the number of catechumens observed in recent years in Catholicism and the growth of evangelical communities would not, therefore, compensate for the phenomenon of secularization.

The report also highlights several key factors in religious changes, such as the respondents' age or level of education. In several Western countries, young adults are more likely to have left their childhood religion than older generations, the survey notes. Moreover, in 12 of the 36 countries studied, people with a higher level of education show higher rates of religious change.

Exceptions

While the phenomenon of disaffiliation generally dominates, some countries resist this trend. For Christians, the figures vary considerably. In the Philippines, Hungary, and Nigeria, 95% or more of adults raised in Christianity still identify as Christian.

Furthermore, the report revealed that certain religions maintain particularly high affiliation rates. “Islam (in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Turkey – Editor’s note) and Hinduism (India, Bangladesh…) generally retain more than 90% of their followers in most of the countries studied,” the report stated. In the United States, Islam recorded the highest rate of conversions: 20% of American Muslims say they were raised in another religion.

*The analysis is based on nationally representative surveys conducted between January and May 2024. For the United States, the data comes from the Religious Landscape Study 2023–2024, which surveyed 36,908 American adults. The other countries studied are: Germany, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Spain, France, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, South Africa.