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