2015

• January 2015: The ’least religious’ nation in the Western world?

According to the WIN/Gallup International 2014 End of Year Survey, 59% of Swedes declared themselves "not a religious person" and 17% "a convinced atheist". Nearly 8 out of 10 Swedes, thus, claim to be not religious, whereas only 19% claim to be "a religious person". In the majority of the 65 other countries taken into account for the survey, more than 6 people out of 10 view themselves as "religious".
Only some Asian countries (China, Hong Kong and Japan) appear to have a greater proportion of atheists than Sweden.
There is a contrast between this study and the importance of the Church of Sweden, declaring 6.3 million members in a country of nearly 10 million inhabitants. However, less than 5% of Swedes are regular churchgoers (see the heading Religious practice).
This shows that, in Sweden as in many other Western countries, there is a difference between religious belonging, religious affirmation (considering oneself a religious person), and religious practice.

Source: The Local