Worthy Christian News > US News > Poll: Significantly fewer Americans believe in God now than five years ago

Poll: Significantly fewer Americans believe in God now than five years ago

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – While 81% of American adults still say they believe in God, the current majority of believers is six percentage points lower than it was in 2017, and nine points lower than the 90% it was between 1944-2011, a new poll by Gallup has found. Gallup’s May 2-22 Values and Beliefs poll found that 17% of US adults say they do not believe in God.

The new poll found that young adults and liberal and Democratic Americans were substantially less likely to say they believe in God than political conservatives: 62% of liberals surveyed said they believe, 68% of young adults and 72% of Democrats said they do.

“Belief in God has fallen the most in recent years among young adults and people on the left of the political spectrum (liberals and Democrats),” Gallup said in its report. “These groups show drops of 10 or more percentage points comparing the 2022 figures to an average of the 2013-2017 polls.”

Meanwhile, 94% of political conservatives and 92% of Republicans surveyed said they believe in God. According to Gallup, the differences in percentages show that “religiosity is a major determinant of political divisions in the US.”

Gallup also noted that, while there has been a decline in belief in God, there have been “steeper drops” in church attendance, church membership, and “confidence in organized religion” in the US. Gallup said this “suggests the practice of religious faith may be changing more than basic faith in God.”