Major religious groups

The world is home to many different religions and spiritual traditions. These traditions can be grouped into a few major categories, even though not everyone agrees on how to organize them. The most common way to look at this started in the 1700s, when people tried to understand how respectful different societies were toward one another.

Today, the largest groups include Christianity, Islam, Unaffiliated people who do not follow a specific religion, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism, along with a few other smaller groups. These religions shape the beliefs, cultures, and daily lives of billions of people around the world. Understanding these major religious groups helps us appreciate the diversity of human experience and the ways people seek meaning and community.

Religious demographics

Further information: List of religious populations

Main category: Religious demographics

We can think about big religions by how many people follow them today. To find out how many people belong to each religion, we look at census reports and surveys. But this isn’t always easy because different countries ask questions in different ways, and some places don’t ask about religion at all. Small or informal groups are especially hard to count.

Experts don’t all agree on the best way to understand how many people follow each religion around the world. Some big questions they still debate include whether to count people based on their family’s history, only those who actively practice their faith, or those who simply say they belong to a religion. They also wonder if they should count children, use government numbers, or look at many different sources.

Religion	Followers (billions)	Cultural tradition	Founded
Christianity	2.3	Abrahamic religions	Judaea (Middle East), c. 30 CE
Islam	2.0	Abrahamic religions	Hejaz (Middle East), c. 610 CE
Hinduism	1.2	Indian religions	Indian subcontinent, c. 20th to 17th century BCE
Buddhism	0.3	Indian religions	Indian subcontinent, c. 5th century BCE
Folk religion	0.2	Regional	Worldwide

Religion	Followers (millions)	Cultural tradition	Founded
Shinto	89	Japanese religions	Japan, unknown origin date
Taoism	12–173	Chinese religions	China, 2nd century CE
Yoruba Religion	50–100	African religions	Yorubaland, unknown origin date
Voodoo	60	African religions	Dahomey, unknown origin date
Sikhism	25–30	Indian religions	Indian subcontinent, 15th century
Ahmadiyya	10-20	Abrahamic religions and New religious movements	Indian subcontinent, 19th century
Judaism	15	Abrahamic religions	Judah (Middle East), 6th to 5th century BCE
Spiritism	5–15	Abrahamic religions and New religious movements	France, 19th century
Mu-ism	5–15	Korean religions	Korea, unknown origin date
Unification Church	10	Abrahamic religions and New religious movements	South Korea, 1954
Ayyavazhi	10	Dharmic religions and New religious movements	South India, 19th century
Baháʼí Faith	7.3	Abrahamic religions and New religious movements	Persia, 19th century
Confucianism	6–7	Chinese religions	China, 6th to 5th century BCE
Sarnaism	5	Indian religions	Chota Nagpur Plateau, Unknown
Jainism	4–5	Indian religions	Indian subcontinent, 7th to 9th century BCE
Cheondoism	3–4	Korean religions and New religious movements	Korea, 19th century
World Mission Society Church of God	3.9	Abrahamic religions and New religious movements	South Korea, 1964
Hoahaoism	1.5–3	Vietnamese religions	Vietnam, 20th century
Iglesia ni Cristo	2.8	Abrahamic religions and New religious movements	Philippines, 1913
Ravidassia	1.5–2	Indian Religions and New religious movements	Indian subcontinent, 2010
Caodaism	1.1–3	Vietnamese religions	Vietnam, 20th century
Tenriism	1.2	Japanese religions	Japan, 19th century
Druze	1	Abrahamic religions	Egypt, 9th century
Tengrism	1	Animism	Central Asia, unknown origin date
Rastafari	1	Abrahamic religions and New religious movements	Jamaica, 1930s
Yarsanism	1	Abrahamic religions and Iranian religions	Iran, 14th century

Religion	Followers	Cultural tradition	Founded
Wicca	800,000	New religious movement	United Kingdom, 1954 CE
Yazidism	300,000-500,000	Kurdish religions	Kurdistan, 16th to 14th century CE
Assianism	200,000-450,000	Iranian religions	Ossetia, 1980s
Donyi-Polo	370,000	Indian religions and New religious movements	Indian subcontinent, 1970
Native American Church	300,000	Native American religions, New Religious movements	United States, 19th century
Sanamahism	222,422	Indian religions	Manipur, 10th century BCE
Zoroastrianism	205,000	Iranian religions	Iran, 16th to 14th century BCE
Rodnovery	22,000-777,000	Modern paganism	Eastern Europe, 1930s-1950s
Mandaeism	60,000-70,000	Abrahamic religions and Iranian religions	Middle East, 1st to 3rd century CE
Happy Science	13,000-38,000	Japanese religion and New religious movement	Japan, 1986
Shugendō	6,000	Japanese religion	Japan, 7th century CE
Roman Traditionalism	3,200	Modern Paganism	Italy, 1970s; Roots in Ancient Rome
Samaritanism	900	Abrahamic religions	Judah, 6th to 5th century BCE

By region

Further information: Religions by country

Religions can be found all around the world, in every country and region. Different places have different main religions that many people follow.

Religion by region
Religion in Africa
Religion in Antarctica
Religion in Asia
- Religion in the Middle East
- Muslim world (SW Asia and N Africa)
Religion in Europe
- Religion in the European Union
- Christian world
Religion in North America
Religion in Oceania
Religion in South America

Trends in adherence

Further information: Growth of religion

The main ways people follow different religions and spiritual traditions have been studied for a long time. This idea started in the 1700s to understand how different societies were seen in terms of kindness and culture. Today, many people think differently about ranking societies this way.

Trends in adherence
	1970–1985 (%)	1990–2000 (%)	2000–2005 (%)	1970–2010 (%)
Baháʼí Faith	3.65	2.28	1.70	4.26
Buddhism	1.67	1.09		2.76
Christianity	1.64	1.36	1.32	2.10
Confucianism				0.83
Hinduism	2.34	1.69	1.57	2.62
Islam	2.74	2.13	1.84	4.23
Jainism				2.60
Judaism	1.09			-0.03
Sikhism		1.87	1.62	3.08
Shinto				-0.83
Taoism				9.85
Zoroastrianism				2.5
Neopaganism	7.03	4.52	2.28	8.30
unaffiliated				0.37

Maps of self-reported adherence

Here are some maps that show what people say about their religions in different countries.

The maps display how many people follow certain religions, like Christianity and Islam, in each area. They also show where other beliefs, such as Abrahamic religion and Indian religion, are practiced. These maps help us see the differences in beliefs around the world.

Classification

Further information: Comparative religion and Sociological classifications of religious movements

Religious traditions are grouped together based on where they started and how they influenced each other. Some start in the Middle East, like Abrahamic religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Others come from the Indian subcontinent, like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. There are also religions from East Asia, such as Taoism and Confucianism.

Some religions are tied to specific cultures or regions, like African diasporic religions or Native American religions. There are also newer religions that started in the past few centuries, like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormonism. These groups often mix ideas from older traditions in new ways.

History of religious categories

An 1821 map of the world, where "Christians, Mahometans, and Pagans" correspond to levels of civilization. The map makes no distinction between Buddhism and Hinduism.

Christian categorizations

An 1883 map of the world divided into colors representing Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Mohammedans (Muslims), and Fetishists

Long ago, Christians thought of beliefs in two ways: their own and everything else. By the 1700s, they started to see Judaism, Islam, and paganism as different kinds of belief. Books like John Toland’s Nazarenus helped people understand these as separate groups under one idea of belief.

Later, writers began to talk about many kinds of beliefs, not just Christianity. This change led to books that described many religions, not just one. By the 1800s, more groups were added to these lists, such as Druze, Yazidis, and others. The idea of “world religions” really started in 1893 at a big meeting in Chicago, which helped people learn more about different beliefs.