Updates

The World Religion database is updated twice a year, generally in January and July.

People groups and Ethnicity

01 Apr 2016

The "Peoples" table lists 13,800 ethno-linguistic people groups

The "Peoples" table lists 13,800 ethno-linguistic people groups, each of which is allocated a primary "Ethnicity" and a primary "Language" to define them. The "Ethnicity" field (formerly labelled "Culture") has been updated this quarter with a simpler underlying code enabling a summary of 13,800 Peoples into 13 ethnic regions. See sample queries on the Peoples/Languages page, and further information in the methodology document.

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Record numbers of refugees

01 Jan 2016

downgraded estimates for Christians in several Middle East countries

Record numbers of refugees and 30-year-low rates of safe return mean permanent exile for millions: WRD this quarter has downgraded estimates for Christians in several Middle East countries both for the present and for all future projections.
Methodological update: a new section describes the counting of Sunni and Shi’a Muslims utilizing the WRD's listing of ethno-linguistic people groups.

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Religions

All major world religions, available by geographic region and people groups.

Geography

Comprehensive country religious makeup, demographics, and trends.

Religious diversity

Religious Diversity Index (RDI) and counts of religions over 10%, over 5%, and over 0.5%.

Contextual data

Population data by country, plus socio-economic, health, environment, and gender indicators.

Censuses

Historical and current census data on religion by country.