WASHINGTON – In its 2025 report on global religious change, the Pew Research Center documents a significant shift in the world’s religious composition between 2010 and 2020. While Christianity remains the largest religious affiliation globally, its share of the world population has declined. At the same time, a broad category of “other religions”, which includes Wiccans and likely other Pagan traditions, has grown in number, keeping pace with global population growth.
Pew’s analysis also includes a revision of earlier estimates. The 2010 figures published in this report differ from previous releases due to updated data sources and refined methodologies designed to improve the reliability and comparability of results across both time points.
One of the most substantial methodological changes involves how religious identity in China is measured. Earlier estimates relied on custom adjustments, as surveys in China often underreport religious affiliation. In this report, Pew uses the Chinese concept of zongjiao, formal religious identity, as it aligns more consistently with global standards and provides better comparability over time. However, this approach excludes individuals who engage in spiritual or religious practices but do not identify with a formal religion. As a result, only 10% of China’s population was classified as religious in 2020, the lowest percentage among all countries studied. Given China’s vast population, this shift significantly increased the global estimate of the religiously unaffiliated.
The report also reevaluates patterns of religious switching, changes in religious identity across a person’s lifetime. This phenomenon is especially pronounced in Western countries and is a major contributor to the decline in Christian populations.
Pew found that for every one adult who adopted a religion after being raised without one, more than three left the religion in which they were raised, most often Christianity. This net loss through disaffiliation has played a key role in the growing size of the religiously unaffiliated population.
These demographic shifts are evident not only in population totals but also in national religious majorities. As of 2020, Christians comprised 29% of the global population, down from 31% in 2010. Nevertheless, Christians remained the majority in 120 of the 201 countries and territories studied, approximately 60%, a reflection of Christianity’s broad geographic distribution, including populous nations like the United States and small countries such as Micronesia.
By contrast, Hindus made up 15% of the world’s population but were a majority in only two countries, India and Nepal, due to their regional concentration in South Asia. The religiously unaffiliated accounted for 24% of the global population but held majority status in just 10 countries, with nearly two-thirds of that group residing in China.
Overall, economically advanced countries reported lower values of religiously affiliated individuals.
The loss of Christian majorities between 2010 and 2020 was particularly marked in countries historically shaped by Christianity. The United Kingdom (49% Christian), Australia (47%), France (46%), and Uruguay (44%) no longer had Christian majorities as of 2020. In the UK, Australia, and France, no single religious group formed a majority. In Uruguay, the religiously unaffiliated became the largest group, comprising 52% of the population, the only country in the Americas to have an unaffiliated majority during that period.
In addition to Uruguay, the Netherlands (54% unaffiliated) and New Zealand (51%) also gained religiously unaffiliated majorities between 2010 and 2020. These three countries joined seven others that had already reached this threshold by 2010: China, North Korea, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macao, and Japan.
Amid the high-profile changes involving Christianity and the unaffiliated, Pew’s report draws attention to a more understated but significant trend: the growth of “other religions.” This category encompasses a wide array of traditions, including Wiccans, Taoists, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Jains, Shintoists, Baha’is, and many folk or traditional religions, some of which are likely to include other Pagan paths. While diverse in belief and practice, these groups are combined into a single analytical category due to their relatively small size and the limitations of national data collection.
Pew explicitly notes that these communities are “very diverse” and that their grouping is methodological rather than theological. Nonetheless, by examining them collectively, researchers can identify demographic and regional patterns. The “other religions” category has remained steady at 2% of the global population but grew in absolute numbers by 12%, from 154 million in 2010 to 172 million in 2020. Although the percentage remained flat, the increase in adherents represents a quiet but meaningful expansion.
This growth was particularly evident in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the number of people identifying with “other religions” doubled, from about 10 million to 20 million. North America also experienced notable growth, with a 62% increase, reaching over 5 million adherents in this category by 2020.
For minority faiths, including Wiccans, this report represents an explicit acknowledgment, especially given that many national censuses do not offer specific categories for Pagan or folk religions and spiritual traditions. In addition, many practitioners choose not to disclose their spiritual identity, and demographic data has historically underrepresented these communities. The inclusion of Wiccans in the Pew report signals a step toward greater visibility, even if exact numbers of Wiccans or other spiritual practices under the broader terms of Paganisms remain difficult to determine.
These findings have broader implications. As religious affiliation becomes increasingly diverse, neutral, data-driven studies like Pew’s are critical for shaping public understanding, informing policy, and supporting the rights of minority faiths. For communities historically excluded from official recognition, being counted is more than a statistic; it’s a foundation for equal treatment in areas such as religious accommodations, chaplaincy, and legal protections.
Ultimately, Pew’s 2025 report offers a nuanced view of the global religious landscape. Christianity’s decline in relative terms is counterbalanced by the rise of Islam and the expansion of the religiously unaffiliated. Meanwhile, the continued presence and growth of “other religions” suggest an enduring layer of spiritual diversity that defies simplistic categorization. Even as their numbers remain modest on a global scale, these minority paths are apparently and quietly but steadily gaining ground.
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