New Delhi: Singapore has been named the world’s most religiously diverse country according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Buddhists form the country’s largest religious group, accounting for 31 per cent of the population. A significant 20 per cent of residents identify as religiously unaffiliated, underscoring the country’s layered religious landscape.
The Pew study analyses religious diversity across 201 countries and territories. It looks at how populations are divided among seven groups: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, adherents of other religions—an umbrella category—and those with no religious affiliation.
“Buddhists are Singapore’s largest religious group, but its population also includes substantial shares of religiously unaffiliated people (20 per cent), Christians (19 per cent), Muslims (16 per cent), Hindus (5 per cent) and adherents of all other religions (9 per cent),” the report read.
It is followed by Suriname, a small country on the northern eastern coast of South America. The former Dutch colony’s population is 53 per cent Christians. With a significant Indian-origin population, descendants of 19th-century indentured workers from British India, 22 per cent are Hindus and 13 per cent are Muslims. The religiously unaffiliated population stands at 8 per cent.
The number of Hindus worldwide has increased by 126 million to 1.2 billion between 2010 and 2020, accounting for 14.9 per cent of the global population. The global Jewish population has also grown by nearly 1 million to 14.8 million, the report states.
Of 44 European countries, only France finds itself in the top 10, it has 46 per cent Christian population.
“Most of the other places in the top 10 are in the Asia-Pacific region—Taiwan, South Korea and Australia, or in Sub-Saharan Africa—Mauritius, Guinea-Bissau, Togo and Benin,” the report reads.
Christians remain the biggest religious group in the world. But Muslims account for at least 99 per cent of the population in eight of the ten least religiously diverse countries and territories.
Among the 10 most populous countries, Pakistan is the least religiously diverse, with Muslims accounting for 97 per cent of its population. Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia are the least religiously diverse countries overall, with Muslims representing more than 99 per cent of their populations.
“Three regions in this analysis have a high level of diversity: North America, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. In each of these regions, Christians make up a majority of the overall population. The second-largest group in these regions makes up a quarter or more,” the report read.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)