Singapore has emerged as the world’s most religiously diverse country, according to a report released this week by the Pew Research Center’s Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project. The findings, based on analysis of 2020 census data and surveys from approximately 200 countries and territories, contrast sharply with Yemen, identified as the least religiously diverse nation.
The study, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the John Templeton Foundation (grant 63753), and the Templeton Religion Trust, marks the latest phase in a long-term effort to understand religious change globally. Since 2008, the project has conducted nearly 250,000 interviews in 111 countries, spanning more than 130 languages, to map the evolving religious landscape.
Whereas Singapore leads in overall diversity, the United States holds the top ranking among nations with remarkably large populations. Nigeria and Russia follow closely behind, indicating a significant concentration of varied religious beliefs within these countries. This ranking is based on a demographic assessment of the number and size of religious groups present within each nation’s borders.
The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project operates across four key areas: cross-national surveys, demographic studies, tracking restrictions on religion, and support for open science. Phase IX of the project, currently underway, will expand the cross-national survey to 30 to 35 countries, measuring multiple aspects of religious pluralism. Researchers are also compiling data on the global population of self-identified atheists, and, for a limited number of countries, attempting to project future trends in religious belief and importance – moving beyond simply tracking religious identity.
The project’s methodology increasingly incorporates advanced technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs), to track restrictions on religion worldwide. Simultaneously, Pew Research Center is investing in data archiving, aiming to make its datasets more accessible and reusable through machine-readable metadata and digital object identifiers. This effort, led by a newly hired data archivist, seeks to enhance the “FAIR” principles – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable – for its research outputs.
The research team, led by Alan Cooperman, Director of Religion Research, includes Senior Researchers Yunping Tong, Anne Shi, and Stephanie Kramer, alongside Associate Director of Research and Senior Demographer Conrad Hackett. The project’s findings are widely disseminated, generating hundreds of articles in major media outlets, millions of web visitors, and over 1,000 citations in academic publications annually, according to Pew Research Center (December 21, 2022).
The ongoing demographic studies build upon data from the 2020 round of national censuses and large-scale surveys. The project’s earlier work, dating back to 2006, has already included surveys in over 95 countries and 130 languages, asking nearly 200,000 people about their religious identities, beliefs, and practices. The project’s annual tracking of religious restrictions in 198 countries and territories continues to provide a crucial benchmark for assessing religious freedom globally.
While the report highlights the increasing religious diversity in some regions, separate Pew Research Center studies indicate a broader trend of declining religious affiliation and observance in the United States. The percentage of American adults identifying as Christian has been steadily decreasing, while the number identifying with no religion has risen rapidly. These trends are projected to continue, raising questions about the future of religious life in the U.S. And its implications for social and political dynamics.
The Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project is scheduled to continue its research and data collection efforts, with future reports expected to provide further insights into the complex interplay between religious change and societal development. The project’s next steps include refining its methodologies for projecting future religious trends and expanding its coverage to include a wider range of countries and religious groups.
