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https://www.axios.com/2025/11/13/gallup-us-religion-plunge-shift-global-declines
Fewer than half of Americans now say religion is an important part of their daily lives, a 17 percentage point drop since 2015, which ranks among the largest declines in the world, according to a new Gallup poll.
Why it matters: The U.S. was once exceptional for its high religiosity among wealthy nations. The shift reflects profound cultural changes that could reshape politics, social ties and even national identity.
By the numbers: In the latest Gallup Poll released Thursday, only 49% of U.S. adults say religion is essential to their daily life, down from 66% in 2015.
That decline is among the biggest measured globally since 2007, Gallup said.
Among 38 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, a median of 36% of adults call religion important — a figure the U.S. is rapidly approaching.
What they're saying: "Such large declines are rare," Gallup researchers Benedict Vigers and Julie Ray wrote.
Vigers and Ray said that only 14 out of more than 160 countries have seen drops of over 15 percentage points in religious importance over the past decade.
"The U.S. increasingly stands as an outlier: less religious than much of the world, but still more devout than most of its economic peers."
Fewer than half of Americans now say religion is an important part of their daily lives, a 17 percentage point drop since 2015, which ranks among the largest declines in the world, according to a new Gallup poll.
Why it matters: The U.S. was once exceptional for its high religiosity among wealthy nations. The shift reflects profound cultural changes that could reshape politics, social ties and even national identity.
By the numbers: In the latest Gallup Poll released Thursday, only 49% of U.S. adults say religion is essential to their daily life, down from 66% in 2015.
That decline is among the biggest measured globally since 2007, Gallup said.
Among 38 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, a median of 36% of adults call religion important — a figure the U.S. is rapidly approaching.
What they're saying: "Such large declines are rare," Gallup researchers Benedict Vigers and Julie Ray wrote.
Vigers and Ray said that only 14 out of more than 160 countries have seen drops of over 15 percentage points in religious importance over the past decade.
"The U.S. increasingly stands as an outlier: less religious than much of the world, but still more devout than most of its economic peers."
