World religions
About 84% of the world identifies with one of the major faith groups; 16% are unaffiliated.
Headline finding
Christianity leads the world for world religions at 2.38B adherents (billions).
The full top 10: World religions
Click any country to read its full profile.
- 1 Christianity 2.38B
- 2 Islam 1.91B
- 3 Unaffiliated 1.19B
- 4 Hinduism 1.16B
- 5 Buddhism 506M
- 6 Folk religions 430M
- 7 Judaism 14.7M
- 8 Sikhism 30M
- 9 Baha'i 8M
- 10 Jainism 6M
What the numbers show
Christianity's lead at the top of this ranking is 24.9% above the second-place country — comfortable but not insurmountable — a credible challenger could plausibly close that gap over a decade.
The five countries leading the table — Christianity, Islam, Unaffiliated, Hinduism, Buddhism — together set the global benchmark. The next 5 countries fill the rest of the table, with Jainism anchoring the list at 6M.
Figures are drawn from Pew Research Center 2020. We use this source because it produces a single, internally consistent dataset rather than aggregating from national statistics offices, which makes year-on-year comparison reliable. The next update is expected when the source publishes its next annual release — see the methodology section below for which year of data is currently shown.
Methodology and caveats
- What this measures
- adherents (billions)
- Source
- Pew Research Center 2020
- Coverage
- Top 10 countries shown. Full source dataset covers all 195 sovereign states where data is available.
- Refresh cadence
- Updated annually as the source publishes new figures, typically autumn or spring.
- Known caveat
- Country definitions follow the source: where the UN, the World Bank and the CIA Factbook disagree on borders or recognition, we use the figure as published rather than reconciling between bodies. Comparisons across rankings should be made with this in mind.
Frequently asked
Which country tops the ranking for world religions?
Christianity leads with 2.38B adherents (billions). Islam is second at 1.91B, with Unaffiliated in third place. Full top-10 with sources is above.
What's the source for the world religions ranking?
The figures come from Pew Research Center 2020. We use this source because it publishes a complete country-by-country dataset using consistent methodology — the alternative of mixing national statistics offices would compromise comparability. Updated annually with the latest available vintage of the data.
How often are the world religions figures updated?
Once a year, in line with the source institution's publishing schedule. Major institutions like the World Bank, IMF and UNESCO publish annual updates in different months — typically autumn or spring — and the figures here reflect the most recently published vintage. The source footer on the ranking table shows which year's data is currently displayed.