The map of the religion in the world / 62 per cent of people on earth define themselves as religious.

The study surveyed citizens of 68 countries.

In addition, many people held religious beliefs without necessarily defining themselves as being religious. These beliefs included:

Souls (74 per cent)

Life after death (54 per cent)

Heaven (56 per cent)

Hell (49 per cent)

Participants were asked "Independently of whether you go to a place of worship or not, would you say you are..."

A religious person

Not a religious person

A convinced atheist

Do not know/no response

The nature of the question is worth noting, as for instance Norway has a high church attendance rate, despite the relatively high proportion of convinced atheists.

Explaining the double-think required, is another matter.

China had 67 per cent 'convinced atheists', followed by Hong Kong on 30 percent, and Japan on 29.

Most religious countries are Thailand (98 per cent) and Nigeria (97). The least religious by these standards were China where 23 per cent of people define themselves as 'non religious'.

Per centage of persons describing themselves as a 'not a religious person' in 2016 survey. Participants were asked "Independently of whether you go to a place of worship or not, would you say you are..." Non religious:

China

67%

Czech Rep

25%

France

21%

Australia

13%

UK

11%

USA

7%

Iran

4%

Brazil

2%

Azerbaijan

64%

UK

58%

Vietnam

57%

Sweden

55%

Australia

50%

Canada

47%

Russia

23%

USA

32%

Iran

16%

Turkey

12%

Poland

9%

Source : Independent