Global Religious Diversity: Latest Findings and Trends

Religious diversity around the world is a complex and evolving phenomenon. Recent research from the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project provides valuable insights into the distribution of religious beliefs and practices, as well as the factors driving religious change. This article examines the latest findings on global religious diversity, focusing on key trends and regional variations.

Understanding the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project

The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures (GRF) project, a collaboration between the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation, aims to understand religious change and its impact on societies worldwide. The project utilizes quantitative data collection and analysis to estimate the size of religious populations, project their growth trajectories, and measure their beliefs, and practices. Pew Research Center and Templeton Religion Trust jointly fund the project, with a recent grant of $2,683,750 awarded to the Pew Charitable Trusts. The project’s current phase (Phase VII) focuses on six East Asian countries and territories: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Mongolia.

Key Findings on Global Religious Diversity

As of 2020, Singapore is identified as the world’s most religiously diverse country overall. Yemen is the least diverse. However, when considering nations with very large populations, the United States ranks first in religious diversity, followed by Nigeria and Russia. Pew Research Center

Research Focus and Methodology

The GRF project employs three main lines of research:

• International Surveys: Conducting surveys on religion in various regions globally.
• Demographic Analysis: Studying the growth and determinants of religious change.
• Restrictions on Religion: Measuring the extent of restrictions placed on religious practice.

Recent research, supported by a grant to Pew Research Center, encourages the reuse of data from the Global Restrictions on Religion 2007-2022 dataset. Pew Research Center

Looking Ahead

The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project continues to provide crucial data and analysis for understanding the dynamic landscape of religion worldwide. Future research will focus on describing shifts in religion from 2010 to 2020, estimating the religious composition of international migrants, and developing new projections based on recent census data. This ongoing work is essential for informing policy decisions and fostering greater understanding of the role of religion in a changing world.