Surveys in 36 countries find that Christianity and Buddhism have the biggest losses from ‘religious switching’
In many countries around the world, a fifth or more of all adults have left the religious group in which they were raised. Christianity and Buddhism have experienced especially large losses from this “religious switching,” while rising numbers of adults have no religious affiliation, according to Pew Research Center surveys of nearly 80,000 people in 36 countries.
Rates of religious switching vary widely around the globe, the surveys show.
What is religious switching?
Throughout this report, religious switching refers to a change between the religious group in which a person says they were raised (during their childhood) and their religious identity now (in adulthood).
We use the term religious switching instead of “conversion” because the changes can take place in many directions – including from having been raised in a religion to being unaffiliated.
We count changes between large religious categories (such as from Buddhist to Christian, or from Hindu to unaffiliated) but not switching within a world religion (such as from one Christian denomination to another). Refer to the Terminology section for details.
1. Religious switching into and out of Christianity
2. Religious switching into and out of the religiously unaffiliated group
3. Religious switching into and out of Buddhism
4. Religious switching into and out of Islam
5. Religious switching into and out of Hinduism
6. Religious switching into and out of JudaismA
Post expires on May 28th, 2025
