THE NUMBER OF ATHEISTS HAS DOUBLED IN RUSSIA

According to the research conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, the number of atheists in the Russian Federation has doubled since 2017. If earlier 7% of Russians called themselves atheists, now their number has grown to 14%.

However, the trend towards an increase in the number of non-believers in Russia was observed in previous years. In 2019 and 2020 12% of the respondents declared atheism.

The majority of atheists are aged 18 to 24 – there are 22% of the respondents from this group.

There are slightly fewer non-believers aged from 25 to 34 years old - 18%, aged 35-44 and 45-59 - 11% each, over 60 years old - 15%. Among the respondents there were also those who cannot say for sure whether they believe or not - there were 6% of them (previously 5%).

Most of the respondents professed Orthodoxy - 66% (as a rule, people over 35), but four years ago, there were 75%. 6% of the respondents professed Islam (the situation has not changed), another 1% turned out to be adherents of Protestants\Buddhists.

4% of Russians said that they could call themselves believers, but they would not like to attribute their worldview to any religion.

Previously, Russian Public Opinion Research Center reported that 13% of Russians plan to observe the Great Lent this year. It was noted that women are more likely to observe it than men. In addition, most of the fasting people were in the 45-year-old group.