Estimating the number of atheists worldwide is challenging due to varying definitions and survey methodologies, but several studies offer ballpark figures:
- Percentage of world population who are atheists: Roughly 7% of humanity identifies as atheist or agnostic (lacking belief in a deity) (en.wikipedia.org). For example, one comprehensive review in 2013 estimated about 7% of the global population falls into this category. Some international polls in the 2010s found similar magnitudes – e.g. around 9–13% of people worldwide called themselves “convinced atheists,” depending on the year (en.wikipedia.org).
- Approximate number of atheists globally: On the order of hundreds of millions. About 450–500 million people worldwide were estimated to be atheists or agnostics in the early 2010s (en.wikipedia.org). This is roughly half a billion people. (By comparison, a broader 16% of the world’s population – over 1.1 billion people – were religiously unaffiliated as of 2012, a category that includes atheists, agnostics, and others with no religion (en.wikipedia.org), though many among the “unaffiliated” still hold some spiritual beliefs.)
These figures underscore that a significant minority of the global population does not believe in a god or gods. In summary, around 5–10% of people worldwide (several hundred million individuals) can be considered atheists under standard definitions, with the exact percentage varying by survey and definition (en.wikipedia.org) (en.wikipedia.org).
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