Religion more important to people in poor countries than rich, surveys reveal

Surveys conducted by Gallup in 2009 have revealed that religion plays a greater role in the daily lives of people in poor countries than those living in wealthy countries.

The number of adults worldwide who say religion is an important part of their daily remains high, at 84 per cent.

The surveys, which looked at 114 countries, found a strong link between religiosity and a country’s socioeconomic status, with each of the most religious countries having a per-capita GDP of less than $5,000.

There were 10 countries and regions where at least 98% of people said religion was important to their daily life, including Bangladesh, Niger, Yemen, Indonesia, Malawi and Sri Lanka where the figure was 99%.

In countries with an average per-capita income of $2,000 or lower, some 95% said religion was important in their daily life. In the richest countries – those with an average per-capita income of more than $25,000 – the median proportion was far lower, at 47%.

In the UK, just 27% agreed that religion was important to their daily life, placing it in the bottom 10 alongside Russia (34%), France (30%), Hong Kong and Japan at 24%, Denmark (19%) and Sweden at (17%).

Italy and Greece had higher numbers of people who felt religion to be important to their daily lives, at 72% and 71% respectively, while in the US, the figure was 65%.

Estonia had the lowest level of religiosity, at 16%.

Gallup said the survey results could indicate that religions plays a “more functional role” in poor countries by “helping many residents cope with a daily struggle to provide for themselves and their families”.