the majority of Americans believe in God
but it's a different story in Britain
where in 2009 people of no religion
outnumbered Christians for the first
time and it's not the only country where
religion is in decline in Israel only
39% of the population consider
themselves a religious person in Norway
it's 30 percent in Japan just 13 percent
but China surpasses them all only 9
percent of Chinese people report
themselves as being religious and the
majority say they are committed a
theists making China the least religious
country in the world but how reliable
are the polls in China the Communist
government is officially atheist and
religious freedom is restricted in the
country so it's likely that many Chinese
people who hold religious beliefs do not
report it but globally the picture is
very different 84 percent of the world's
population say they are affiliated to a
religious group around 7 percent a
Buddhist 15 percent are Hindu 24 percent
are Muslim but the largest religious
group are Christian making up nearly a
third of the world's 7.5 billion people
but this is set to change it's predicted
there will be almost as many Muslims as
Christians by 2050
this is because Muslims on average are
younger than members of other religions
and they have more children this has
made Islam
the fastest-growing religion in the
world the religious profile of the world
is changing but even in areas where
religious affiliation is declining
spirituality is not America has become
less religious in recent years but the
percentage of non-religious Americans
who say they often feel spiritual has
risen globally 15 percent of atheists
believe in life after death
so if faith deserts you here there's
always the Hereafter