Iceland places 7th-11th in a ranking of countries which have the most convinced atheists, according to a survey by Gallup International. The survey was conducted in 57 different countries from November 2011 to January 2012.
Archive photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Respondents were asked whether they considered themselves to be religious, non-religious or convinced atheists, regardless whether they attended religious services, Morgunblaðið reports.
In Iceland, 57 percent of respondents stated they were religious, 31 percent described themselves as non-religious, ten percent declared themselves to be convinced atheists, while two percent would either not answer the question or didn’t know how to respond.
Thus, Iceland ranks 7th-11th along with Austria, Australia and Ireland, while China topped the list with 47 percent of respondents in the country being convinced atheists.
Notably, when the survey was last carried out in Iceland in 2005, 74 percent of respondents said they were religious. The ratio of religious people in Iceland has thus dropped by 17 percent in seven years, according to the survey.
Overall, more than 50,000 people participated in the 2012 international survey. In Iceland, 852 people responded to the questions online.
ESA
