Fewer religious people in SA - survey
2012-08-10 22:30
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Johannesburg - The number of people in South Africa who consider themselves religious has dropped by 19%, an international survey revealed on Friday.
According to the latest polls released by the Win-Gallup International Religiosity and Atheism Index, which measures global self-perceptions on belief, religious South Africans dropped from 83% in 2005 to 64% in 2012.
The survey, conducted during November 2011 and January 2012, was based on interviews with 52 000 men and women from 57 countries in five continents.
South Africa was fifth behind Vietnam which dropped by 23%, Ireland, 22%, Switzerland, 21%, and France 21%.
According to the survey, 28% of South Africans do not consider themselves religious, 4% were convinced they were atheists, and 5% did not respond to questions.
The survey also indicated that globally the number of people claiming to be religious dropped by 9%, while atheism rose by 3%.
Ghana was the most religious country in the world with 96%, followed by Nigeria with 93%.
China had 47% of citizens claiming to be atheists, followed by Japan with 31% and the Czech Republic with 30%.
The survey further indicated that worldwide people in the bottom income groups were 17% more religious than those in the top income groups.
The low income group accounted for 66% of religious people and the high income groups accounted for 49%.
