For non-Muslims, Filipinos are world leaders in faith

The Philippines leads the world in the percentage of non-Muslims who believe in God, while the elderly across all countries tend to be the most religious, according to a US study published yesterday.

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WASHINGTON // The Philippines leads the world in the percentage of non-Muslims who believe in God, while the elderly across all countries tend to be the most religious, according to a US study published yesterday.

Belief in God tends to be strongest in the United States and Roman Catholic countries and lowest in Scandinavia and former Soviet states, according to the survey carried out by the NORC research group at the University of Chicago.

The study was based on data from 30 countries – nearly all with Christian majorities – in which surveys about belief in God have been taken since 1991. No Muslim countries were surveyed.

It found that 94 per cent of people in the Philippines said they had always believed in God, followed by Chile, with 88 per cent, and the United States with 81 per cent.

Belief was lowest in the former East Germany (13 per cent) and in the Czech Republic (20 per cent).

The report found that senior citizens tend to believe more strongly in God. On average, 43 per cent of respondents 68 and older are certain that God exists, compared to just 23 per cent of those 27 and younger, the report said.