The richer the country, the fewer believers: how the situation in Ukraine differs from the EU

Author

Artur Gmyria

Belief in higher powers plays an increasingly smaller role in the lives of residents of "Old Europe." Almost 60% of German youth (aged fourteen to twenty-nine – Generation Z) do not believe in God, according to the results of the "Youth in Germany – 2025" study. This share has significantly increased compared to 2022, when fifty-one percent of young people reported a lack of faith. At the same time, every third respondent in this age group admitted that faith provides them support in difficult times.

In Ukraine, significantly more people believe in God. Moreover, Ukrainian youth, unlike many of their peers in the European Union, much more often identify as believers. reports on the situation.

What Faith Ukrainian Youth Prefer

Unlike older generations, Ukrainian youth (aged eighteen to twenty-four) practice Orthodoxy significantly less and give a substantially greater preference to Catholicism (4.3%) and "other" (7.3%). This "other" category can include practices from various forms of paganism, Eastern religions to pseudo-Christian sects, meaning young people often seek themselves in less traditional Ukrainian denominations. This is evidenced by the 2025 Gradus Research survey data. Overall, only 1.8% of Ukrainians chose "other," and Catholicism is also uncommon in our country – 1.2%.

Eighteen percent of young people were found to be atheists or agnostics, which is unlikely to differ from the twenty-five to thirty-four age category – 17.3%, considering the statistical error, and the older generation (fifty-five to sixty years old) even surpasses everyone – 21.4%.

If compared with the results of the latest surveys from the Rating sociological group from February 2023, the percentage of atheists among youth is growing. At that time, fifteen percent of respondents in the eighteen to thirty-five age group answered that they "do not believe in the existence of God" and other higher powers.

However, Ukrainian figures significantly differ from the trend in the West. But they can be quite easily explained: unlike in Ukraine, surveys in European countries focus not only on respondents' direct self-perception or attitude towards a certain faith, but directly on its practice, for example, attending church monthly or weekly.

For example, according to data from the Razumkov Centre from 2024, only 31% of Ukrainians attend church weekly. But even this is significantly more than in 2020 – twenty-one percent. Currently, 25% of youth under twenty-five years old attend services at least once a week. Therefore, Ukraine, unlike the West, shows a quite interesting trend.

What Is Happening to Faith in Western Countries

The best source for measuring public opinion in the European Union is "Eurobarometer," but it does not ask a direct question about belief in God. For example, a 2020 study shows that for only twenty-seven percent of respondents aged fifteen to twenty-four, religion is "important" or "very important."

If we look at surveys within countries, we can see a significant decline in the number of believers in Europe.

In Italy, according to a 2023 survey, in the eighteen to thirty-four age group, the percentage of those who declare themselves Catholics by various "gradations" is 58.3%, but only 10.9% are practicing Catholics. Overall, thirty-seven percent of Italians consider themselves non-believers.

In larger and slightly more successful France (gross domestic product per capita $44.6 thousand versus $39 thousand in Italy as of 2023), only 44% said they believed in God during a 2023 survey. Among youth aged eighteen to twenty-four, thirty-six percent said "yes." At the same time, only 12% percent of French people go to church once a week.

In Germany, which surpasses both countries in economic development, there are even fewer believers. As of 2024, only 5% of Germans attend religious services at least once a month, and the number of those who identify as Catholic or Protestant church members is forty-five percent.

However, in the United Kingdom, despite generally disappointing figures for the church (only 35% of people believe in God as of 2024), religiosity is slowly returning. Church attendance in the country increased from 3.7 million in 2018 to 5.8 million in 2024 – a 56% increase. Moreover, the number of Britons aged eighteen to twenty-four who go to church monthly increased from 4% to 16% over the last six years.

Even the bastion of Catholicism, Poland, despite significant overall figures, is experiencing a decline in church attendance. Thirty-four percent of Poles in 2024 attended church weekly – this is the worst indicator in the country's history. However, eighty-seven percent of Poles still consider themselves believers.

Meanwhile, the United States is also experiencing a decline. If in the early 2000s, 42% of Americans attended church weekly, by 2023, these figures fell to 30%. Among young Americans (aged eighteen to twenty-nine), only twenty-two percent go to their places of worship weekly.

The Western world is increasingly becoming post-Christian. Regarding the issue of identity, citizens of European Union countries most often identify with family (81%), nationality (73%), European belonging (56%), political orientation (54%), and only after that – with religion or faith (53%).