The importance of faith amongst Americans has dropped to an all-time low according to a new Gallup poll. According to the poll, 49% of Americans stated that religion was an important part of their daily life. That was nearly a 20-point drop from 66% in 2015. The drop is the largest that Gallup has measured in any country over a 10-year period. In fact, only 14 out of the over 160 countries that have been surveyed by Gallup have experienced drops larger than 15 points over a ten-year period. The United States ranked in the 6^th highest drop over a ten-year period, with Greece taking the top spot, dropping 28 points from 77% in 2013 and dropping to 49% in 2013.

The US has dropped well below the global average for religiosity, which is currently at 83%. The report noted that the United States is something of an enigma when it comes to what the report calls religious identity vs religiosity. The US has a middle-high Christian identity, similar to countries like the UK and Denmark. However, while those countries have a higher Christian identity, they don’t consider religion’s role in daily life quite as high the United States does. For example, while 65% of the UK identified as Christian, only 30% considered religion an important part of daily life. “This means the U.S. lags further behind the global median for religiosity and is drawing closer to the median for other advanced economies. The U.S. increasingly stands as an outlier: less religious than much of the world, but still more devout than most of its economic peers,” the report noted.

The decline of faith in America is nothing new, although exactly what trajectory it may follow in the next ten years remains foggy. Many Christians have pointed to college revivals and Generation Z’s openness to Christianity as hopeful prognosticators of a religious reawakening. However, Axios also reported that 15,000 churches will close in the US by the end of 2025. There is also a growing divide between young men and women as young men begin to outpace women in church attendance for the first time in 25 years. “How is it that the U.S. has seen its largest drop in people valuing religious faith (latest Gallup Poll) while more & more of the unchurched are becoming Christians?” asked Kyle King of Barrel Aged Faith. “It is most likely that those who attended church moderately (1x a month) in past decades have entirely stopped which leads to this large of a drop (17 point drop). However, those who never grew up going to church whatsoever are showing deep interest in faith.”