The number of countries with Christian majorities declined between 2010 and 2020, according to a new report by the Pew Research Centre, highlighting a notable shift in global religious affiliation. As of 2020, Christians remained the majority in 120 out of 201 countries and territories analysed, down from 124 in 2010. That means Christian-majority nations accounted for 60% of all countries surveyed, compared to 62% a decade earlier. The decline is largely attributed to a growing number of people leaving Christianity, contributing to the rise of religiously unaffiliated populations in multiple nations. The most significant changes occurred in the United Kingdom, France and Uruguay — all of which lost their Christian majorities during the 10-year span. In these nations, the share of people identifying as Christian fell below 50%, while the percentage of religiously unaffiliated individuals rose substantially.
Uruguay became the only country in the Americas without a Christian majority by 2020, with 52% of its population identifying as religiously unaffiliated and only 44% as Christian. In the U.K., Australia and France, no single religious group held a majority. However, unaffiliated populations approached or surpassed the number of Christians, reflecting broader secularization trends. Two other countries — New Zealand and the Netherlands — also transitioned to religiously unaffiliated majorities during the same period, joining a group of seven nations that already held that status in 2010: China, North Korea, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macao and Japan. In total, Pew found that 10 countries had religiously unaffiliated majorities by 2020, up from seven in 2010. These populations include individuals who identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” The report noted that while Christianity remains the most geographically widespread religion, its proportion of the global population is smaller than the share of countries where Christians form the majority.
Source: Christian Daily International