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Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns
Phil Zuckerman
From the Cambridge Companion to Atheism,
edited by Michael Martin, University of Cambridge Press, 2007
1. Sweden 46-85%
...
12. Russia 24-48%
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14. Netherlands 39-44%
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19. Israel 15-37%
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36. China 8-14%
...
44. United States 3-9%
The nations with the highest degrees of organic atheism include most of the nations of Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Israel. However, atheism is virtually non-existent in most Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Asia. Most nations characterized by high degrees of individual and societal security have the highest rates of organic atheism, and conversely, nations characterized by low degrees of individual and societal security have the lowest rates of organic atheism and the highest degrees of belief. High levels of organic atheism are strongly correlated with high levels of societal health, such as low poverty rates and strong gender equality. In many societies atheism is growing, however, throughout much of the rest of the world – particularly among the poorest nations with highest birth rates – atheism is barely discernible.