Half of Americans Still Consider Religion Important

Around the world, which nationalities place the most importance on religion in their daily lives? Gallup's World Poll reveals that almost all Filipinos and most Nigerians consider religion important. The survey found that religion is generally of more value to people in poorer countries than richer ones. Christian countries, especially those in Africa, saw almost universal regard of religion, as did many Muslim nations in the Middle East and North Africa specifically.

Americans are firmly in the middle of the pack with just over half (51 percent) considering religion an important aspect of their lives. Religion's standing in the country is therefore different to most Western European nations as well as Canada and Australia, where religion is only important to around a quarter to a third of respondents. The importance of religion in Southern European countries, Ireland and Poland was closer to its relevance in the United States. The U.S. rating was closest to Argentina's (52 percent) as far as the selection of countries from Gallup's World Poll published by the organization shows.

Religion was rated least important in Scandinavian nations like Norway (17 percent) and Sweden (21 percent) as well as Japan (21 percent).