Eight in ten adults globally state that religion is an integral part of their daily lives, according to Gallup surveys conducted in 114 different countries.
Just as in previous surveys, however, there is a direct correlation between socioeconomic status and religiosity, with the world’s poorest countries reporting higher percentages of those who claim religion is important in their daily lives, reported Gallup on Tuesday.
The globe’s poorest countries are those with an average per-capita income of $2,000 or less where the median proportion who state that religion is important in their daily lives is 95 percent.
This is in stark contrast with a median of 47 percent for the richest countries (those with an average per-capita income of over $25,000).
“Social scientists have put forth numerous possible explanations for the relationship between the religiosity of a population and its average income level,” said Gallup editor Steve Crabtree.
“One theory is that religion plays a more functional role in the world's poorest countries, helping many residents cope with a daily struggle to provide for themselves and their families. A previous Gallup analysis supports this idea,” he added.
In Gallup’s analysis of their surveys, they discovered that a relationship between religiosity and emotional well-being is stronger among those in poor countries than among those in the developed world.
Countries such as the United States buck this trend. This is because according to Gallup, 65 percent of Americans say religion is important in their daily lives. Other high-income countries which emphasise the importance of religion include Italy, Greece, Singapore, and countries in the Persian Gulf.
The top six countries with the highest percentage of people placing importance on religion were found to be Bangladesh, Niger, Yemen, Indonesia, Malawi, and Sri Lanka – with at least 99 percent in each reporting religion as important in their daily lives.
The six countries with the lowest percentages were Estonia (16 percent), Sweden (17 percent), Denmark (19 percent), Japan (24 percent), and Hong Kong (24 percent).