Top 50 Countries With Highest Proportion of Atheists / Agnostics / Unbelievers

A surveyed list has been made of the top fifty countries that hold the highest percentage of individuals who are said to be either atheists, or agnostics. However, the given percentage does not necessarily constitute the exact number of persons who claim to be non-believers in God. Take Estonia for example; out of several individuals that took the survey, 49% of people claimed they hold no belief in God, but only 11% called themselves actual atheists.

Country
 
Total country population
(2004)
% Atheist/Agnostic
Nonbeliever in God
Number of Atheists/Agnostics
Nonbelievers in God (Min-Max)
Sweden 8,986,000 46 - 85% 4,133,560 - 7,638,100
Vietnam 82,690,000 81% 66,978,900
Denmark 5,413,000 43 - 80% 2,327,590 - 4,330,400
Norway 4,575,000 31 - 72% 1,418,250 - 3,294,000
Japan 127,333,000 64 - 65% 81,493,120 - 82,766,450
Czech Republic 10,246,100 54 - 61% 5,328,940 - 6,250,121
Finland 5,215,000 28 - 60% 1,460,200 - 3,129,000
France 60,424,000 43 - 54% 25,982,320 - 32,628,960
South Korea 48,598,000 30 - 52% 14,579,400 - 25,270,960
Estonia 1,342,000 49% 657,580
Germany 82,425,000 41 - 49% 33,794,250 - 40,388,250
Russia 143,782,000 24 - 48% 34,507,680 - 69,015,360
Hungary 10,032,000 32 - 46% 3,210,240 - 4,614,720
Netherlands 16,318,000 39 - 44% 6,364,020 - 7,179,920
Britain 60,271,000 31 - 44% 18,684,010 - 26,519,240
Belgium 10,348,000 42 - 43% 4,346,160 - 4,449,640
Bulgaria 7,518,000 34 - 40% 2,556,120 - 3,007,200
Slovenia 2,011,000 35 - 38% 703,850 - 764,180
Israel 6,199,000 15 - 37% 929,850 - 2,293,630
Canada 32,508,000 19 - 30% 6,176,520 - 9,752,400
Latvia 2,306,000 20 - 29% 461,200 - 668,740
Slovakia 5,424,000 10 - 28% 542,400 - 1,518,720
Switzerland 7,451,000 17 - 27% 1,266,670 - 2,011,770
Austria 8,175,000 18 - 26% 1,471,500 - 2,125,500
Australia 19,913,000 24 - 25% 4,779,120 - 4,978,250
Taiwan 22,750,000 24% 5,460,000
Spain 40,281,000 15 - 24% 6,042,150 - 9,667,440
Iceland 294,000 16 - 23% 47,040 - 67,620
New Zealand 3,994,000 20 - 22% 798,800 - 878,680
Ukraine 47,732,000 20% 9,546,400
Belarus 10,311,000 17% 1,752,870
Greece 10,648,000 16% 1,703,680
North Korea 22,698,000 15%* 3,404,700
Italy 58,057,000 6 - 15% 3,483,420 - 8,708,550
Armenia 2,991,000 14% 418,740
China 1,298,848,000 8 - 14%* 103,907,840 - 181,838,720
Lithuania 3,608,000 13% 469,040
Singapore 4,354,000 13% 566,020
Uruguay 3,399,000 12% 407,880
Kazakhstan 15,144,000 11 - 12% 1,665,840 - 1,817,280
Mongolia 2,751,000 9% 247,590
Portugal 10,524,000 4 - 9% 420,960 - 947,160
USA 293,028,000 3 - 9% 8,790,840 - 26,822,520
Albania 3,545,000 8% 283,600
Argentina 39,145,000 4 - 8% 1,565,800 - 3,131,600
Kyrgyzstan 5,081,000 7% 355,670
Dominican Republic 8,834,000 7% 618,380
Cuba 11,309,000 7%* 791,630
Croatia 4,497,000 7% 314,790

Source: Zuckerman, 2005

*Note: The said percentage of atheists mentioned for the countries Cuba, China and North Korea is unreliable. The available figures are best estimates from the available data.

SammyShazaam's picture
I can definitely see Northern

I can definitely see Northern Europe holding down the Non-religious fort. That's Viking territory - the indigenous people had a very complete and beautiful religion before Christian influence. Once they've seen the world trivialize, romanticize, and pick apart their religion for centuries, I can see why they would be really slow to buy into another one.

However, I'm confused as to how other countries in South America, Africa and the Caribbean who have the same story don't show the same pattern according to the numbers.

Trevor's picture
It's really an eye opener to

It's really an eye opener to see that most atheist countries are also the most developed.

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