The religiously unaffiliated are the world's third-largest group

In 2020, about 1.9 billion people worldwide were religiously unaffiliated - the so-called “nones” who identify as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” That made them the planet’s third-largest category, behind only Christians and Muslims, and larger than every other religion combined.

The group grew 17% over the decade, up from 1.6 billion in 2010.

Roughly two-thirds of the world’s unaffiliated live in China alone, with most of the rest across the Asia-Pacific region.

Unusually, the nones expanded despite having an older age profile and lower fertility than religious groups - meaning their growth came largely from religious switching. Pew found that for every adult raised without religion who later adopted one, about 3.2 adults left the faith of their upbringing.