Trends in Adherence
Further information: Claims to be the fastest-growing religionSince the late 19th century, the demographics of religion have changed a great deal. Some countries with a historically large Christian population have experienced a significant decline in the numbers of professed active Christians: see demographics of atheism. Symptoms of the decline in active participation in Christian religious life include declining recruitment for the priesthood and monastic life, as well as diminishing attendance at church. On the other hand, since the 19th century, large areas of Sub-Saharan Africa have been converted to Christianity, and this area of the world has the highest population growth rate. In the realm of Western culture, there has been an increase in the number of people who identify themselves as secular humanists. In many countries, such as the People's Republic of China, communist governments have discouraged religion, making it difficult to count the actual number of believers. However, after the collapse of communism in numerous countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, religious life has been experiencing resurgence there, both in the form of traditional Eastern Christianity and particularly in the forms of Neopaganism and East Asian religions.
Following is some available data based on the work of the World Christian Encyclopedia:
| 1970–1985 | 1990–2000 | 2000–2005 |
|---|---|---|
| 3.65%: Bahá'í Faith | 2.65%: Zoroastrianism | 1.84%: Islam |
| 2.74%: Islam | 2.28%: Bahá'í Faith | 1.70%: Bahá'í Faith |
| 2.34%: Hinduism | 2.13%: Islam | 1.62%: Sikhism |
| 1.67%: Buddhism | 1.87%: Sikhism | 1.57%: Hinduism |
| 1.64%: Christianity | 1.69%: Hinduism | 1.32%: Christianity |
| 1.09%: Judaism | 1.36%: Christianity | |
| 1.09%: Buddhism | ||
Studies conducted by the Pew Research Center have found that, generally, poorer nations had a larger proportion of citizens who found religion to be very important than richer nations, with the exceptions of the United States and Kuwait.
Read more about this topic: Major Religious Groups
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