April 30, 2025
The Patmos Initiative launches today, sharing unprecedented insights from 91,000 people across 85 countries and territories.
Bible Society in England and Wales, in partnership with United Bible Societies, today launches the findings of The Patmos World Bible Attitudes Survey – the most comprehensive global study of attitudes toward the Bible and faith conducted in a generation.
The research, undertaken by Gallup, surveyed 91,000 people across 85 countries and territories, representing 3.8 billion people worldwide. It reveals a global religious landscape far more complex and nuanced than commonly assumed, challenging common assumptions about secularism and the decline of belief. It also identifies seven contexts where countries sometimes separated by geography and nationality share socio-religious similarities.
“The data challenges many prevailing narratives about the decline of religion globally,” says Richard Powney, project lead for The Patmos Initiative. “In five of the seven global contexts we studied, the majority of people still consider religion an important part of their daily lives.”
Some of the survey’s most striking findings include:
- Even in secular Western contexts, 62% of respondents believe in God or a higher power;
- 240 million non-Christians worldwide express interest in learning more about the Bible;
- Young non-Christians (18–25) in secular contexts show a higher interest in the Bible than older demographics do;
- In parts of Asia, 56% of people have never heard of the Bible;
- 70% of all respondents globally, including many non-Christians, agree it is good for children to know Bible stories;
- A surprisingly high number of Christians do not use the Bible regularly or want to find out more about it.
“The Bible, as the word of God, lies at the heart of the Christian life and biblical ministry,” says Dirk Gevers, Secretary General of United Bible Societies. “The findings of The Patmos Initiative provide the most accurate and comprehensive picture yet of how people truly engage with Scripture. They represent both a source of encouragement and a call to action for Christians around the world. Our hope is that The Patmos Initiative will inspire a renewed and widespread commitment to advancing both Bible availability and meaningful engagement.”
The research identifies seven distinct clusters of countries and territories exhibiting similar socio-religious contexts. Within these contexts, the study maps 64 different audience groups with distinctive patterns in how they relate to the Bible.
“What this research provides is not just statistics, but strategic intelligence for anyone involved in communicating faith in the modern world,” Powney explains. “Whether addressing biblical illiteracy in Asia, tackling indifference in secular contexts, or building on existing interest in Christian-majority regions, the Patmos findings offer evidence-based direction to Christian organisations and confessions.”
Taking the Bible as the key focus offers one of the best indicators of cross-confessional attitudes around Christianity globally. Moreover, as this is the largest study ever with this focus, The Patmos Initiative also offers landmark insights.
“Attitude to the Bible is the most stable and globally relevant marker of Christianity, across cultures and confessions of faith,” says Powney. “This study is about how people feel about and interact with the Bible, but what it tells us is so much more. Anyone interested in what global Christianity looks like needs to dig into The Patmos Survey.”
The findings are being presented today at a global online launch event, with sessions in English, French, and Spanish to accommodate different time zones.
“Rather than assuming religious attitudes based on geography or demographics, we now have robust data that reveals the beliefs and attitudes of people worldwide,” adds Powney. “This is vital insight for Christian organisations, but it also contributes significantly to our broader understanding of faith and society in the 21st century.”
Notes to editors
Media requests, additional information
- For media inquiries, contact project lead, Richard Powney
- Articles and findings from The Patmos Initiative are available at https://patmos.bfbs.org/
- For mission and Bible agency access to the full report, join the Patmos Forum at https://www.patmosforum.org/
The Patmos Initiative is brought to you by:
- The British and Foreign Bible Society is referred to in England and Wales as “Bible Society”, or “Bible Society in England and Wales”. Bible Society was the initiator and primary funder of The Patmos Survey and led the Patmos research.
https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/ - United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of 155 Bible Societies operating in over 240 countries and territories, dedicated to ensuring everyone can access and engage with the Bible. UBS is interconfessional, serving and collaborating with all church traditions – Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and emerging. As a Fellowship, it unites independent national Bible Societies in an interdependent global organisation. UBS provides integrated Bible ministry, supporting translation, publication, and distribution efforts to make Scripture accessible and meaningful worldwide.
https://unitedbiblesocieties.org/
Methodology
- Gallup is the source research agency for this project. The results are based on computer-assisted in-person (CAPI), telephone (CATI), and opt-in panel web interviews (CAWI) with adults aged 15 and older in 85 countries and areas in 2023 and 2024. The results in 62 countries are based on nationally representative face-to-face or telephone surveys of approximately 1,000 respondents. In 23 countries, data were collected from approximately 1,000 respondents in each country via web using an online non-probability panel. The data were weighted to ensure each sample is nationally representative. For results based on the total sample of national adults in 2023, the margin of sampling error for the surveys ranges between ±2.1 and ±5.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
