A recently published study by the Pew Research Centre has revealed that the number of people who identify with no religion in the United States nearly doubled between 2010 and 2020.
Figures from Pew’s Global Religious Landscape study show that the population of religiously unaffiliated individuals in the US rose from 51.2 million in 2010 to 100.9 million in 2020 — an increase of approximately 97 percent.
The rise reflects a growing trend in the US, where a significant portion of the population is moving away from organised religion.
ALSO READ: Islam is world’s fastest growing religion — Study
While Christianity remained the dominant religion in the US in both years, its numbers declined from 243.5 million in 2010 to 217.3 million in 2020.
In contrast, other religions, including Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, recorded modest increases. The Muslim population grew from 2.8 million to 4.0 million, while the number of Hindus rose from 1.8 million to 3.0 million.
Despite the overall growth in non-Christian groups, the unaffiliated category experienced by far the most significant surge, reshaping the country’s religious composition.
Pew noted that globally, Islam remained the fastest-growing religion over the same period, driven primarily by natural demographic growth.
However, in the United States, the most remarkable religious shift was the rise in individuals who no longer identify with any faith.
ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then