The median age for atheists is 34, compared with 46 for all U.S.
In other regions surveyed by the Center, including Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, atheists generally are much rarer.Ĥ In the U.S., atheists are mostly men and are relatively young, according to the 2014 Religious Landscape Study. Like Americans, Europeans in many countries are more likely to say they do not believe in God than they are to identify as atheists, including two-thirds of Czechs and at least half of Swedish (60%), Belgian (54%) and Dutch adults (53%) who say they do not believe in God. In neighboring Slovakia, 15% identify as atheists, although in the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, atheists have a smaller presence, despite the historical influence of the officially atheist Soviet Union. But the European country with perhaps the biggest share of atheists is the Czech Republic, where a quarter of adults identify that way. In Western Europe, where Pew Research Center surveyed 15 countries in 2017, nearly one-in-five Belgians (19%) identify as atheists, as do 16% in Denmark, 15% in France and 14% in the Netherlands and Sweden. None of the atheists we surveyed, however, say they believe in “God as described in the Bible.”ģ Atheists make up a larger share of the population in many European countries than they do in the U.S. (Overall, 10% of American adults share this view.) At the same time, roughly one-in-five self-described atheists (18%) say they do believe in some kind of higher power. atheists fit this description: 81% say they do not believe in God or a higher power or in a spiritual force of any kind. An additional 5% of Americans call themselves agnostics, up from 3% a decade ago.ĢThe literal definition of “atheist” is “a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 20 show that 4% of American adults say they are atheists when asked about their religious identity, up from 2% in 2009. Here are some key facts about atheists in the United States and around the world:ġ The share of Americans who identify as atheists has increased modestly but significantly in the past decade. One thing is for sure: Along with the rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans – many of whom believe in God – there has been a corresponding increase in the number of atheists.
At the same time, some of those who identify with a religion (for example, say they are Catholic or Jewish) say they do not believe in God. Some people who describe themselves as atheists also say they believe in some kind of higher power or spiritual force. Attendees listen to speakers at the 2012 Reason Rally in Washington, D.C.
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