Global agnosticism

Secular Europe has one of the highest rates of agnosticism rates in the world. In 2014, the Pew Research Forum indicated that Europe will go from 11% of the world's population to 7% of the world's population by 2050.[1] According to the agnostic scholar Eric Kaufmann, in the Europe of tomorrow, immigration and religious fertility will increase the proportion of committed Christians in Europe, many from the developing world.[2]

In 2015, Pew Research indicated in their report The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 that agnostics and atheists “will make up a declining share of the world’s total population.”[3]

The Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimated that agnostics made up about 12.8% of the global adult population in 2015. CSGC projects that agnostics will makeup about 11.5% of the global adult population in 2025 and 9.1% of the global adult population in 2050.[4]

Secular Europe has one of the highest rates of agnosticism rates in the world. In 2014, the Pew Research Forum indicated that Europe will go from 11% of the world's population to 7% of the world's population by 2050.[5]

The agnostic Eric Kaufmann is a professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London and author. His academic research specialty is how demographic changes affect religion/irreligion and politics.

Kaufmann wrote in 2010:

“  |  Worldwide, the march of religion can probably only be reversed by a renewed, self-aware secularism. Today, it appears exhausted and lacking in confidence... Secularism's greatest triumphs owe less to science than to popular social movements like nationalism, socialism and 1960s anarchist-liberalism. Ironically, secularism's demographic deficit means that it will probably only succeed in the twenty-first century if it can create a secular form of 'religious' enthusiasm." [6] |  ”

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According to the agnostic scholar Kaufmann, in the Europe of tomorrow, immigration and religious fertility will increase the proportion of committed Christians in Europe, many from the developing world.[7]

For additional information, please see: Desecularization

## Contents

* 1 Frequency of agnosticism in Western World Countries
* 2 Europe and agnosticism statistic
* 3 World agnosticism map
* 4 See also
* 5 Notes

## Frequency of agnosticism in Western World Countries[edit]

Financial Times (FT)/Harris Poll among adults in 5 countries in 2006

Agnosticism has become a fairly common belief system in Western culture with 14% of people in the United States, 32% of people in France and 35% of people in Great Britain self-identifying as agnostics.[8]

## Europe and agnosticism statistic[edit]

See also: Secular Europe

According to a poll measuring religious identification in the European Union in 2012 by Eurobarometer, 16% identify as non-religious/agnostic and 7% of EU citizens identify as atheists.[9][10]

The 2010 eurobarometer poll found that on total average, of the EU27 population, 51% "believe in a God", 26% believe in "some sort of spirit or life force" and 20% had neither of these forms of belief.[11]

## World agnosticism map[edit]

* World agnosticism map

## See also[edit]

* Agnosticism statistics
* Global atheism

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ 10 projections for the global population in 2050 By Rakesh Kochhar, Pew Research Forum, February 3, 2014
2. ↑ Shall the Righteous Inherit the Earth? Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century by Eric Kaufmann
3. ↑ The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, Pew Research Forum
4. ↑ Status of Global Christianity, 2015, in the Context of 1900–2050
5. ↑ 10 projections for the global population in 2050 By Rakesh Kochhar, Pew Research Forum, February 3, 2014
6. ↑ Shall the religious inherit the earth? - Eric Kaufmann
7. ↑ Shall the Righteous Inherit the Earth? Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century by Eric Kaufmann
8. ↑ http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1131
9. ↑ Cultur de Europa
10. ↑ Discrimination in the EU in 2012" (PDF), Special Eurobarometer, 383 (European Union: European Commission), p. 233, 2012, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-12-02, retrieved 14 August 2013 The question asked was "Do you consider yourself to be...?" With a card showing: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Other Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, and Non-believer/Agnostic. Space was given for Other (SPONTANEOUS) and DK. Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu did not reach the 1% threshold.
11. ↑ "Special Eurobarometer, biotechnology, page 204" (PDF). Fieldwork: Jan-Feb 2010.