From here (h/t Darksyde via Gadling):
Below is a list of the top fifty countries containing the largest percentage of people who identify as atheist, agnostic, or non-believer in God.
Country Total Pop.(2004) % Atheist/actual # Agnostic/Nonbeliever in God (minimum - maximum) 1 Sweden 8,986,000 46-85% 4,133,560-7,638,100 2 Vietnam 82,690,000 81% 66,978,900 3 Denmark 5,413,000 43-80% 2,327,590-4,330,400 4 Norway 4,575,000 31-72% 1,418,250-3,294,000 5 Japan 127,333,000 64-65% 81,493,120-82,766,450 6 Czech Republic 10,246,100 54-61% 5,328,940-6,250,121 7 Finland 5,215,000 28-60% 1,460,200-3,129,000 8 France 60,424,000 43-54% 25,982,320-32,628,960 9 South Korea 48,598,000 30%-52% 14,579,400-25,270,960 10 Estonia 1,342,000 49% 657,580 11 Germany 82,425,000 41-49% 33,794,250-40,388,250 12 Russia 143,782,000 24-48% 34,507,680-69,015,360 13 Hungary 10,032,000 32-46% 3,210,240-4,614,720 14 Netherlands 16,318,000 39-44% 6,364,020-7,179,920 15 Britain 60,271,000 31-44% 18,684,010-26,519,240 16 Belgium 10,348,000 42-43% 4,346,160-4,449,640 17 Bulgaria 7,518,000 34-40% 2,556,120-3,007,200 18 Slovenia 2,011,000 35-38% 703,850-764,180 19 Israel 6,199,000 15-37% 929,850-2,293,630 20 Canada 32,508,000 19-30% 6,176,520-9,752,400 21 Latvia 2,306,000 20-29% 461,200-668,740 22 Slovakia 5,424,000 10-28% 542,400-1,518,720 23 Switzerland 7,451,000 17-27% 1,266,670-2,011,770 24 Austria 8,175,000 18-26% 1,471,500-2,125,500 25 Australia 19,913,000 24-25% 4,779,120-4,978,250 26 Taiwan 22,750,000 24% 5,460,000 27 Spain 40,281,000 15-24% 6,042,150-9,667,440 28 Iceland 294,000 16-23% 47,040-67,620 29 New Zealand 3,994,000 20-22% 798,800-878,680 30 Ukraine 47,732,000 20% 9,546,400 31 Belarus 10,311,000 17% 1,752,870 32 Greece 10,648,000 16% 1,703,680 33 North Korea 22,698,000 15% ( ? ) 3,404,700 34 Italy 58,057,000 6-15% 3,483,420-8,708,550 35 Armenia 2,991,000 14% 418,740 36 China 1,298,848,000 8-14% ( ? ) 103,907,840-181,838,720 37 Lithuania 3,608,000 13% 469,040 38 Singapore 4,354,000 13% 566,020 39 Uruguay 3,399,000 12% 407,880 40 Kazakhstan 15,144,000 11-12% 1,665,840-1,817,280 41 Estonia 1,342,000 11% 147,620 42 Mongolia 2,751,000 9% 247,590 43 Portugal 10,524,000 4-9% 420,960-947,160 44 United States 293,028,000 3-9% 8,790,840-26,822,520 45 Albania 3,545,000 8% 283,600 46 Argentina 39,145,000 4-8% 1,565,800-3,131,600 47 Kyrgyzstan 5,081,000 7% 355,670 48 Dominican Rep. 8,834,000 7% 618,380 49 Cuba 11,309,000 7% ( ? ) 791,630 50 Croatia 4,497,000 7%
In sum, countries marked by high rates of organic atheism are among the most societally healthy on earth, while societies characterized by non-existent rates of organic atheism are among the most destitute. Nations marked by high degrees of organic atheism tend to have among the lowest homicide rates, infant mortality rates, poverty rates, and illiteracy rates, and among the highest levels of wealth, life expectancy, educational attainment, and gender equality in the world. The only indicator of societal health mentioned above in which religious countries fared better than irreligious countries was suicide
Of course, it is essential to clearly state that I am in no way arguing that high levels of organic atheism cause societal health or that low levels of organic atheism cause societal ills such as poverty or illiteracy. If anything, the opposite argument should be made: societal health causes widespread atheism, and societal insecurity causes widespread belief in God . . . .
1 comment:
These really are interesting statistics. Of course there may be no relationship at all. With statistics like these you must be fun at staff meetings at WSSW.
Andrew
www.mutualaidbasedgroupwork.com
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