Survey shows high belief in life after death and in ‘spirits’ around the world

Among those who pray daily, people in the UK show one of the highest beliefs in life after death

The UK is among the countries in the world that have the lowest levels of belief in life after death and that animals have spirits, according to the latest report from Pew Research.

However among those who pray daily, people in the UK show one of the highest beliefs in life after death.

The UK also has one of lowest rates of belief in God, according to the report, Belief in Spirits and Life After Death Is Common Around the World.

Pew Research surveyed more than 50,000 people in 36 countries on six continents by phone, with an array of religious traditions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism as well as many people with no affiliation.  

According to the survey, young adults are as likely as older adults to hold spiritual beliefs such as in life after death, or that animals can have spirits, but specific belief in God is more common among older people.

Just 53 per cent of people in the UK said they believed in an afterlife, compared to 85 per cent in Indonesia. Just ten countries had a lower proportion that held this belief, with the lowest being Sweden at 38 per cent and then India at 43 per cent. The UK also scored low on the importance of religion with just one in five saying it was very important to them, compared to 97 per cent in Bangladesh and at the other end, 7 per cent in Sweden.

The survey also correlates economic development and religion. With the exception of Singapore and the US, the survey found that wealthier countries tended to have lower shares of adults who said religion was very important in their lives.

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