Greeks most religious in EU, survey shows
Prayer plays an important role in the lives of the majority of Greeks, 73% to be exact, putting the country in second place, after Turkey, in a group of 34 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Center. What’s more, 80% of Greeks declared that religion is important in their lives, the highest rate among western nations polled.
For the survey, titled “The Global God Divide,” the Washington-based think-tank polled 38,426 respondents across 34 countries from May 13 to October 2 last year, releasing the results at the end of last week.
Of the 13 European Union member-states included in the survey, Greece ranked first when its respondents were asked whether belief in God is a prerequisite to being moral, with 53% answering yes.
It was followed by Bulgaria with 50% and Slovakia with 45%.
The corresponding percentages in France, the Czech Republic and Sweden were much lower, at 15%, 14% and 9% respectively.
When asked if religion is important to their lives, 80% of Greek respondents answered yes, the highest rate among the EU countries polled, followed by Poland with a percentage of 69%.
Sweden had the highest rate of respondents saying religion was not important in their lives (78%), followed by the Czechs (72%), the French (66%), the Dutch (60%) and the British (60%).
A majority (82%) of Greeks said God is important in their lives, putting Greece just below Turkey with 89%.
