Where people change faith

Fastest-changing countries

1. 01Netherlands

   40% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 24 in : 1 out · The Netherlands has the highest measured net movement into 'no religion' in continental Europe.

2. 02Sweden

   39% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 22 in : 1 out · Church of Sweden membership fell below half the population in 2023, though most Swedes still register life events with it.

3. 03Spain

   38% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 18 in : 1 out · Pew records Spain's largest net switching loss of any Catholic country: about 36% of adults raised Catholic now identify with no religion.

4. 04United Kingdom

   36% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 20 in : 1 out · England and Wales became majority non-Christian for the first time in the 2021 census — the fastest recorded religious change in British history.

5. 05Chile

   35% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 9 in : 1 out · One of the fastest secularising countries on Earth: roughly a third of all Chilean adults raised Catholic now report no religion.

6. 06France

   35% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 15 in : 1 out · France hosts both Western Europe's largest Muslim population and one of its largest unaffiliated majorities.

7. 07South Korea

   35% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 10 in : 1 out · South Korea went from 1% Christian in 1900 to about a third today, and is now secularising faster than almost any country in Asia.

8. 08Australia

   34% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 16 in : 1 out · 'No religion' overtook Christianity in the 2021 census; Hinduism and Sikhism are the country's fastest-growing faiths, driven by migration.

9. 09Canada

   31% switched

   Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 12 in : 1 out · Canada's Sikh population has more than doubled since 2001 and now exceeds 770,000, the largest share of any country outside India.

10. 10Germany

    30% switched

    Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 12 in : 1 out · More than half a million Germans formally deregistered from a church in a single record year, a legally recorded act because of the church tax.

11. 11United States

    28% switched

    Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 6 in : 1 out · For every American raised with no religion who has since joined one, about six raised Christian have left — the largest raw switching flow in the Western hemisphere.

12. 12Japan

    27% switched

    Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 13 in : 1 out · Most Japanese take part in Shinto and Buddhist ritual while reporting no religious affiliation — the clearest case anywhere of practice without belonging.

13. 13Argentina

    27% switched

    Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 8 in : 1 out · Home to Latin America's largest Jewish community, roughly 175,000 people, most of them in Buenos Aires.

14. 14Brazil

    21% switched

    Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 3 in : 1 out · Catholic share fell from 92% in 1970 to about 57% today, but most of that moved to Evangelical Protestantism rather than out of religion entirely.

15. 15Poland

    16% switched

    Gaining fastest: ◯ Religiously unaffiliated · 11 in : 1 out · Still one of Europe's most Christian countries, but among Poles aged 18–24 weekly Mass attendance has fallen by more than half in a decade.