Survey: Eight in 10 people globally believe in God

The Patmos World Bible Attitudes Survey, published earlier this year, is based on more than 90,000 interviews conducted by Gallup with adults aged 15 and older in 2023 and 2024. Most interviews were conducted face-to-face.

The initiative, commissioned by the Bible Society, draws from the Apostle Paul’s letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor as recorded in Revelation, identifying seven geographical clusters.

The key finding was that, in most of the world, faith still matters to people. The survey showed that 69 per cent of people worldwide say religion is an important part of their daily life. And eight out of 10 people globally believe in God or a “higher power”.

American Bible Society chief innovation officer John Plake said: “This study helps us see where God’s Word is spreading and his church is growing. We also see vast opportunities to share His Word with the world.”

The 109-page report divides the 85 countries and areas into seven “clusters”. Cluster Five is made up of 24 “economically developed, historically Christian” countries in Europe, North America and Australasia.  

In this cluster, only 37 per cent of respondents say the Bible is personally relevant to them. In Aotearoa New Zealand, 46 per cent of respondents did not see the Bible as personally relevant, as against 30 per cent who did. The United States was the outlier in Cluster Five, with 51 per cent seeing the Bible as personally relevant, against 24 per cent who did not.

Across all respondents, 70 per cent agreed that it was good for children to know Bible stories. Across all clusters, high percentages said that they believed that people should keep their religious beliefs to themselves, including 69 per cent in the Sahel cluster (63 per cent of Christians, 70 per cent Muslims), and 73 per cent of “active, confident” Christians in sub-Saharan Africa.

The survey found that 11 per cent of respondents from different religious traditions – and those with no religious tradition – were “open to learning more about the Christian Bible”. That trend was seen across most clusters, but was more prominent in Christian-majority contexts.

FULL STORY

Bible is still meaningful and relev­ant to the West, poll suggests (By Madeleine Davis/Church Times)

State of the Bible survey shows US as outlier in secular west (Baptist Press)

Key insights (Patmos World Bible Attitudes Survey)