The list of general sources below provides bibliographic information for data sources used to inform estimates of educational attainment by religion. Most data were acquired directly from the organizations that collected them, but, in some cases, data were obtained from data archives. The list of archives from which data were obtained appears after the general sources. The subsequent list of sources by country provides abbreviated bibliographical information identifying the primary sources used to estimate differences in educational attainment by religion in 151 countries. As described in the Methodology, some adjustments to these initial estimates have been made to ensure measures of educational attainment are consistent with the highest quality country level estimates of attainment levels in the general population.
This report is based on information collected from 131 countries about differences in educational attainment by religion. For an additional 16 countries in which at least 95% of the total population identifies with one religious group (based on Pew Research Center’s 2015 report “The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050”), values available for the general population are used to describe educational attainment in the group constituting the overwhelming majority of the population. In these cases, country level estimates are based on 2010 educational attainment estimates taken from population projections by age, sex and education carried out by researchers at the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (WIC).82 Finally, data for Muslims in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar reflect only educational attainment for citizens of these Gulf countries. Educational attainment of citizens is used as a proxy for Muslim attainment because citizens overwhelmingly identify as Muslim. Although these countries also have large non-citizen populations, including Muslims and non-Muslims, breakdowns of educational attainment by religion of the non-citizen populations are not available.
At the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, researchers Michaela Potančoková and Marcin Stonawski compiled and standardized education data from these sources, in collaboration with Pew Research Center researchers.
General sources
Asian Barometer. The Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica and the Institute for Advanced Studies of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Taiwan University. http://www.asianbarometer.org/.
Demographic and Health Surveys. MEASURE DHS. Administered by Macro International. http://www.dhsprogram.com/.
European Social Survey. Led by Centre for Comparative Social Surveys, City University. http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/.
European Values Study. Administered by the European Values Study Foundation at Tilburg University. http://www.europeanvaluesstudy.eu/.
Generations & Gender Programme: Survey Instruments. United Nations. http://www.unece.org/pau/ggp/welcome.html.
International Social Survey Program. ISSP Research Group, GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. http://www.gesis.org/en/issp/issp-home/.
Latinobarómetro. Administered by the Corporación Latinobarómetro. http://www.latinobarometro.org/.
Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey. United Nations Children’s Fund. http://www.childinfo.org/mics.html.
Reproductive Health Survey. Administered by the Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) at the University of Washington. http://www.healthdata.org/about/ghdx/.
The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050. Pew Research Center. https://legacy.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/
Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections. The World Population Program of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Vienna Institute of Demography of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (VID/ÖAW), the Demography Group and the Research Institute on Human Capital and Development of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). http://www.wittgensteincentre.org/en/index.htm.
Data archives
Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA). Pennsylvania State University. http://www.thearda.com/.
Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS). http://www.esds.ac.uk/.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, International (IPUMS). Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota. https://international.ipums.org/international/.
ZACAT Data Archive for the Social Sciences. GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/.
Redatam Informa. Centro Latinoamericano y Caribeno de Demografia (CELADE/CEPAL), Santiago de Chile. http://www.cepal.org/cgi-bin/getprod.asp?xml=/redatam/noticias/paginas/5/14185/P14185.xml&xsl=/redatam/tpl/p18f.xsl&base=/redatam/tpl/top-bottom.xsl%20.
Data sources by country
Afghanistan: Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2010-2011
Albania: Census 2011
Algeria: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Algeria Family Health Survey 2002-2003)
Argentina: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Armenia: Census 2011
Aruba: Census 2010
Australia: Census 2011
Austria: Census 2001
Azerbaijan: Census 2009
Bahamas: Census 2010
Bahrain: Census 2010
Bangladesh: Census 2011
Belgium: European Social Survey 2008-2012
Belize: Census 2010
Benin: Demographic and Health Survey 2011-2012
Bolivia: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Brazil: Census 2010
Bulgaria: Census 2001/Census 2011
Burkina Faso: Census 2006
Burundi: Demographic and Health Survey 2010-2011
Cambodia: Census 2008
Cameroon: Census 2005
Canada: Census 2001
Cape Verde: Reproductive Health Survey 1998
Chad: Demographic and Health Survey 2004
Chile: Census 2002
China: Spiritual Life Study of Chinese Residents 2007
Colombia: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Comoros: Demographic and Health Survey 2012
Costa Rica: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Croatia: Census 2011
Czech Republic: Census 2011
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Demographic and Health Survey 2013-2014
Denmark: European Social Survey 2008-2012
Dominican Republic: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Ecuador: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Egypt: Census 2006
El Salvador: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Estonia: Census 2011
Ethiopia: Census 2007
Federated States of Micronesia: Census 2010
Fiji: Census 2007
Finland: Population Register 2010
France: Generations and Gender Survey 2005
Gabon: Demographic and Health Survey 2012
Gambia: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2000)
Georgia: Generations and Gender Survey 2006
Germany: Generations and Gender Survey 2005/Generations and Gender Survey Germany-Turkish subsample 2006
Ghana: Census 2010
Greece: European Social Survey 2008-2010
Guadeloupe: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Census 2008)
Guatemala: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Guyana: Census 2002
Haiti: Census 2003
Honduras: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Hong Kong: Asian Barometer Survey 2001-2012
Hungary: Census 2011
Iceland: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Labour Force Survey 2010)
India: India Human Development Survey-II 2011-2012
Indonesia: Census 2010
Iran: Census 2006
Iraq: Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys 2011
Ireland: Census 2011
Israel: Census 2008
Italy: European Values Study 2008 2009
Ivory Coast: Demographic and Health Survey 2011-2012
Jamaica: Census 2001
Japan: Japanese General Social Survey 2006-2010
Kazakhstan: Global Islam Survey 2011-2012
Kenya: Demographic and Health Survey 2008-2009
Kosovo: Census 2011
Kuwait: Census 2011
Kyrgyzstan: Global Islam Survey 2011-2012
Latvia: International Social Survey Programme 2008-2012
Lesotho: Demographic and Health Survey 2009
Liberia: Census 2008
Lithuania: Census 2011
Madagascar: Demographic and Health Survey 2008-2009
Malawi: Census 2008
Malaysia: Census 2010
Maldives: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Census 2006)
Mali: Census 2009
Malta: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Labour Force Survey 2010)
Martinique: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Census 2008)
Mauritius: Census 2011
Mexico: Census 2010
Moldova: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Census 2004)
Mongolia: Census 2010
Montenegro: Census 2011
Morocco: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Census 2004)
Mozambique: Demographic and Health Survey 2011
Namibia: Demographic and Health Survey 2013
Nepal: Census 2011
Netherlands: Generations and Gender Survey 2002-2004
New Zealand: Census 2013
Nicaragua: Census 2005
Niger: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Demographic and Health Survey 2006)
Nigeria: General household Survey 2010/ Demographic and Health Survey 2013
Norway: Generations and Gender Survey Norway 2007-2008
Pakistan: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Census 1998)
Palestinian territories: Census 2007 (Data for the West Bank only)
Panama: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Paraguay: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Peru: Census 2007
Philippines: Census 2000
Poland: European Social Survey 2008-2012
Portugal: Census 2011
Puerto Rico: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Census 2000)
Qatar: Census 2010
Republic of the Congo: Demographic and Health Survey 2011-2012
Romania: Census 2002
Russia: Generations and Gender Survey Russia 2004
Rwanda: Census 2002
Samoa: Census 2011
Saudi Arabia: Census 2004 (sample restricted to Saudi citizens only)**
Senegal: Demographic and Health Survey 2010-2011
Serbia: Census 2011
Sierra Leone: Census 2004
Singapore: Census 2010
Slovakia: Census 2011
Slovenia: Census 2002
Somalia: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006)
South Africa: Census 2001
South Korea: Census 2005
Spain: Census 2011/ Barómetro autonómico II 2010
St. Lucia: Census 2010
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Census 2001
Swaziland: Demographic and Health Survey 2006-2007
Sweden: Generations and Gender Survey 2012-2013
Switzerland: Census 2000
Taiwan: Asian Barometer Survey 2001, 2006, 2010
Tajikistan: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Living Standards Measurement Survey 2009)
Tanzania: Demographic and Health Survey 2004-2005
Thailand: Census 2000
Timor-Leste: Census 2010
Togo: Demographic and Health Survey 2013-2014
Tonga: Census 2011
Trinidad and Tobago: Census 2011
Tunisia: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on National Survey on Population and Employment 2010)
Turkey: Wittgenstein Centre Human Capital Projections 2010* (based on Census 2000)
Uganda: Census 2002
United Kingdom: Census 2011
United States: Religious Landscape Study, 2014/ Jewish Americans Survey, 2013/ Muslim Americans Survey, 2011/ Asian Americans Survey, 2012
Uruguay: Extended National Survey of Homes (ENHA) 2006
Uzbekistan: Life in Transition II 2010
Vanuatu: Census 2009
Venezuela: Latinobarómetro 2000-2010
Vietnam: Census 1999
Yemen: Yemen National Social Protection and Monitoring Survey 2012-2013
Zambia: Census 2010
Zimbabwe: Demographic and Health Survey 2010-2011
* Data on educational attainment by religion was not available, but at least 95% of the total population identified with one religious group (based on Pew Research Center’s 2015 report The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050). The data on education for the total population comes from population projections carried out by researchers at WIC.83
For more details see: http://www.oeaw.ac.at/fileadmin/subsites/Institute/VID/dataexplorer/index.html
** Data on educational attainment by religion was not available. Although the total Saudi population is estimated to be 93% Muslim, the Saudi citizen population is expected to be more than 95% Muslim. Educational attainment calculated for Saudi citizen population only.
