{"id":202548,"date":"2025-03-26T09:50:28","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=202548"},"modified":"2025-08-14T15:30:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T19:30:03","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-hinduism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-hinduism\/","title":{"rendered":"5. Religious switching into and out of Hinduism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<details id=\"terminology\" class=\"wp-block-details is-style-plus-icon has-border-color has-ui-gray-light-border-color has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-background has-sans-serif-font-family is-layout-flow wp-container-core-details-is-layout-61b01db2 wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-width:1px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);font-size:clamp(0.875em, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 0.2em) * 0.009), 0.88em);\"><summary>Terminology<\/summary>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout this report, <strong>religious switching<\/strong> refers to a change between the religious group in which a person says they were raised (during their childhood) and their religious identity now (in adulthood). The rates of religious switching are based on responses to two survey questions we asked of adults ages 18 and older:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cWhat is your current religion, if any?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cThinking about when you were a child, in what religion were you raised, if any?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The responses to these two questions allow us to calculate what percentage of the public has left a religious group (or \u201cswitched out\u201d) and what percentage has entered (or \u201cswitched in\u201d). This kind of switching can take place without any formal rite or ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We have analyzed switching into and out of five widely recognized, worldwide religions to allow for consistent comparisons around the globe. Specifically, this report analyzes change between the following groups: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, other religions, religiously unaffiliated adults, and those who did not answer the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, someone who was raised Buddhist but now identifies as Christian would be considered as having switched religions \u2013 as would someone who was raised Christian but is now unaffiliated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, switching <em>within<\/em> a religious tradition, such as between Catholicism and Protestantism, is not captured in this report. (Refer to Pew Research Center\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/02\/26\/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off\/\">2023-24 Religious Landscape Study<\/a> for an analysis of switching in the United States that <em>does <\/em>count some switching within Christianity. Read \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/03\/26\/4-facts-about-religious-switching-within-judaism-in-israel\/\">4 facts about religious switching within Judaism in Israel<\/a>\u201d for an analysis of switching within Judaism.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Religiously unaffiliated<\/strong> refers to people who answer a question about their current religion (or their upbringing) by saying they are (or were raised as) atheist, agnostic or \u201cnothing in particular.\u201d This category is sometimes called \u201cno religion\u201d or \u201cnones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Other religions<\/strong> is an umbrella category. It contains a wide variety of religions that are not in the other categories and that have survey sample sizes too small to analyze separately in most countries. This includes Sikhism, Jainism, the Baha\u2019i faith, African traditional religions, Native American religious traditions, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Disaffiliation rates<\/strong> refer to the percentage of adults who say they were raised in a religion but are now religiously unaffiliated (or have no religion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Net gains\/losses<\/strong> are the differences between the percentage of survey respondents who say they were raised in a particular religious category (as children) and the percentage who identify with that same category at the time of the survey (as adults). The \u201cnet\u201d gain or loss takes into account both sides of the equation \u2013 those who have left <em>and<\/em> those who have entered the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Retention rates<\/strong> show, among all the people who say they were raised in a particular religious group, the percentage who still describe themselves as belonging to that group today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Accession rates<\/strong> (also called entrance rates) show, among all the people who describe themselves as belonging to a particular religious group today, the percentage who were raised in some other group.<br><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This section explores religious switching into and out of Hinduism, reviewing <a href=\"#where-has-hinduism-experienced-the-largest-net-gains-or-losses-from-religious-switching\">where Hinduism has had the largest net gains and losses<\/a>, <a href=\"#what-percentage-of-people-raised-hindu-are-still-hindu\">what percentage of adults who were raised Hindu are still Hindu<\/a> (i.e., retention rates), <a href=\"#which-religious-groups-have-former-hindus-switched-to\">which religious groups those who have left Hinduism have switched into<\/a>, and <a href=\"#where-does-hinduism-have-the-largest-shares-of-new-entrants\">where Hinduism has the largest shares of new entrants<\/a> (i.e., the highest accession rates).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of the 36 countries surveyed, just four have sufficient sample sizes to allow analysis of religious switching into and out of Hinduism: Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the United States.[19. numoffset=&#8221;19&#8243; The U.S. data comes from Pew Research Center\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/02\/26\/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off\/\">2023-24 Religious Landscape Study<\/a>, which surveyed 36,908 adults. Because of this large sample size, we are able to analyze and report results for relatively small religious groups in the U.S. \u2013 including Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Muslims.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Net gains and losses for Hinduism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Very small shares <em>of the overall population<\/em> in any of the countries analyzed have left or joined Hinduism. In the U.S., Hindus are a small share of the population to begin with (1%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Remaining Hindu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Hindu retention rate is high in all the places analyzed, but there is some variation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nearly all people who were raised Hindu in India and Bangladesh still identify as Hindu today.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In Sri Lanka, roughly nine-in-ten people who were brought up as Hindus have retained that identity, as have about eight-in-ten in the U.S.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Leaving Hinduism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Of the countries surveyed, the highest shares of people raised Hindu who no longer identify as Hindu are in the U.S. (18%) and Sri Lanka (11%).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In Sri Lanka, most who have left Hinduism now identify as Christians. In the U.S., 11% of people who were raised Hindu are now religiously unaffiliated (i.e., they identify religiously as atheist, agnostic or \u201cnothing in particular\u201d) and 6% are Christians.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Entering Hinduism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Most people who currently identify as Hindu say they were raised as Hindus, resulting in low \u201caccession\u201d (or entrance) rates into Hinduism across the four countries analyzed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The U.S. has the highest accession rate, with 8% of Hindu American adults saying they were raised outside of Hinduism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;where-has-hinduism-experienced-the-largest-net-gains-or-losses-from-religious-switching&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"where-has-hinduism-experienced-the-largest-net-gains-or-losses-from-religious-switching\">Where has Hinduism experienced the largest net gains or losses from religious switching?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across the four countries analyzed, relatively few people (at least, as a percentage of the overall public in each country) have either left or entered Hinduism.[20. Every number in the accompanying table \u2013 including in the middle two columns \u2013 was calculated as a percentage of <em>all <\/em>adults surveyed in each country. For example, the second row shows that 12% of <em>all <\/em>Sri Lankan adults say they were raised as Hindus, 1% of <em>all <\/em>Sri Lankan adults have left Hinduism, 0% of <em>all <\/em>Sri Lankan adults have entered Hinduism, and 11% of <em>all <\/em>Sri Lankan adults currently identify as Hindus. The net loss for Hinduism in Sri Lanka due to switching over the lifetimes of the survey respondents is calculated by subtracting the current share of Sri Lankan adults who are Hindu (11%) from the share who say they were raised Hindu (12%). The difference is a net loss for Hinduism of 1% <em>of the country\u2019s total adult population<\/em> (not 1% of Sri Lankan Hindus).]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=202796\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f0f0f0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f0f0f0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-01.png?resize=480,365 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-01.png?resize=782,594 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-01.png?resize=840,638 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"319\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-01.png?w=840\" alt=\"Table showing few adults are leaving or joining Hinduism in India\" class=\"wp-image-202796 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For instance, in India, the country with the world\u2019s largest Hindu population, roughly equal shares of Indians say they were raised Hindu (84%) and currently identify as Hindu (83%). Only 1% of all Indian adults have left Hinduism, and a similarly small share have become Hindus after having been raised in another religion or with no affiliation.[21. These results for switching into and out of Hinduism in India are similar to the findings of a <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/06\/29\/religion-in-india-tolerance-and-segregation\/#religious-conversion-in-india\">2019-2020 Pew Research Center survey<\/a> of nearly 30,000 adults in India.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the U.S., just 1% of adults were raised Hindu, and the percentage of all U.S. adults who have left Hinduism rounds to zero \u2013 as does the percentage who have switched into Hinduism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;what-percentage-of-people-raised-hindu-are-still-hindu&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-percentage-of-people-raised-hindu-are-still-hindu\">What percentage of people raised Hindu are still Hindu?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=202797\"><img data-dominant-color=\"eceded\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #eceded;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-02.png?resize=480,384 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-02.png?resize=782,626 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-02.png?resize=840,672 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"336\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-02.png?w=840\" alt=\"Table showing most Bangladeshi and Indian adults raised Hindu still identify this way now\" class=\"wp-image-202797 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Hindu retention rate is high in all the countries where it can be measured. For example, in Bangladesh and India, nearly all adults who were raised Hindu still identify as Hindu today (99% each).[22. The share of adults who currently identify as Hindu in each of these countries \u2013 regardless of what religion they were raised in, if any \u2013 varies widely. For example, Bangladesh and India have the same retention rate among Hindu adults (99% each). But 83% of Indian adults identify as Hindus, compared with just 9% of Bangladeshi adults. Consult the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_topline.pdf\">Topline<\/a> for the estimated percentage of the adult population that each religious group represents in all 36 countries.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;which-religious-groups-have-former-hindus-switched-to&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"which-religious-groups-have-former-hindus-switched-to\">Which religious groups have former Hindus switched to?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Analyzing retention rates also reveals the religious groups that former Hindus have joined. In the U.S., 18% of U.S. adults who were raised Hindu no longer identify as Hindu \u2013 including 11% who are now religiously unaffiliated, 6% who describe themselves as Christians and 1% who now identify as Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, 8% of adults who were raised Hindu now identify as Christians, while equal shares describe themselves as unaffiliated, Muslims or Buddhists (1% each).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;where-does-hinduism-have-the-largest-shares-of-new-entrants&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"where-does-hinduism-have-the-largest-shares-of-new-entrants\">Where does Hinduism have the largest shares of new entrants?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most people who currently identify as Hindus say they were raised Hindu. For example, all the Bangladeshi Hindus surveyed say they were raised Hindu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As such, the \u201caccession\u201d (or entrance) rates into Hinduism are low across the four countries with sufficient sample sizes to analyze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=202798\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ebecec\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ebecec;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-03.png?resize=480,353 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-03.png?resize=782,575 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-03.png?resize=840,618 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"309\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_05-03.png?w=840\" alt=\"Table showing nearly all Sri Lankan, Indian and Bangladeshi Hindus were raised Hindu\" class=\"wp-image-202798 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. has the highest accession rate, with 8% of Americans who currently identify as Hindu saying they were raised outside of Hinduism, including many who were raised Christian (5% of all Hindu Americans).[23. Although the U.S. has the highest accession rate into Hinduism of the countries surveyed, only 1% of U.S. adults currently identify as Hindu. Consult the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_topline.pdf\">Topline<\/a> for the estimated percentage of the adult population that each religious group represents in all 36 countries.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Find out what percentage of adults have joined or left Hinduism, or remained Hindu since childhood, in four countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":675,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_api_pending":"","apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_hidden":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[192,179,193,189,188,412,160,195,405],"tags":[],"bylines":[832,550,589],"collection":[],"datasets":[2610,2789],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[507,516,504,498,514,497,513,509,510,505,512,511,515],"research-teams":[525,517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-202548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-christianity","category-hinduism","category-islam","category-judaism","category-pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-project","category-religious-identity-affiliation","category-religiously-unaffiliated","category-size-demographic-characteristics-of-religious-groups","bylines-kelsey-jo-starr","bylines-kirsten-lesage","bylines-william-miner","datasets-2023-24-religious-landscape-study-rls-dataset","datasets-spring-2024-survey-data","formats-report","regions-countries-asia-pacific","regions-countries-europe-russia","regions-countries-germany","regions-countries-india","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-israel","regions-countries-latin-america","regions-countries-mexico","regions-countries-middle-east-north-africa","regions-countries-multiple-regions-worldwide","regions-countries-north-america","regions-countries-sub-saharan-africa","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-global","research-teams-religion"],"label":false,"post_parent":202481,"word_count":1461,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-hinduism\/","art_direction":{"A2":{"id":202949,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_featured.jpg?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"Light shines through the doors of Zionskirche, a Protestant church in Berlin. (Bus\u00e0 Photography\/Getty Images)","chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":202949,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_featured.jpg?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"caption":"Light shines through the doors of Zionskirche, a Protestant church in Berlin. 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(Bus\u00e0 Photography\/Getty Images)","chartArt":false},"A1":{"id":202949,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_featured.jpg?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"Light shines through the doors of Zionskirche, a Protestant church in Berlin. 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