The number of people across the Arab region identifying as "not-religious" has seen a steady rise since 2013 according to a recent study. The recent report indicates that the rise of non-religious individuals under the age of 30 has been the greatest.
The survey compiled by BBC Arabic said the number of non-religious people rose from 11 per cent in 2012-2014 to 18 per cent in 2019. Except for Yemen, trust in religious leaders also decreased in all Arab regions. Countries like Iraq, Sudan and Palestine showed the steepest decline in religious leaders.
Trust in Islamist movement like the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah has seen a sharp decline, even lower than the trust of religious leaders in the region.
The survey conducted by Princeton University under its research network, 'Arab Barometer' interviewed 25,407 people in 10 countries including the disputed Palestinian region. It clarifies that certain gulf countries refused to participate and result from Kuwait and Syria could not be included due to issues relating to result coming too late and difficulty of access, reported BBC.
