Christianity is the largest religious denomination in Germany, with 52 million adherents (64%). [68] 26.5 million are Protestants (32.3%) and 25.5 million are Catholics (31.0%).[69] The second largest religion is Islam with 4.3 million adherents (5%)[70] followed by Buddhism and Judaism, both with around 200,000 adherents (c. 0.25%). Hinduism has some 90,000 adherents (0.1%). All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 (or less than 0.05%) adherents. About 24.4 million Germans (29.6%) have no registered religious denomination.
Protestantism is concentrated in the north and east and Roman Catholicism is concentrated in the south and west. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, was born in Bavaria. Non-religious people, including atheists and agnostics, make up 29.6% of the population, and are especially numerous in the former East Germany and major metropolitan areas.
Of the 4.3 million Muslims, most are Sunnis and Alevites from Turkey, but there are a small number of Shi'ites. 1.7% of the country's overall population declare themselves Orthodox Christians, Serbs and Greeks being the most numerous.[73] Germany has Europe's third-largest Jewish population (after France and the United Kingdom). In 2004, twice as many Jews from former Soviet republics settled in Germany as in Israel, bringing the total Jewish population to more than 200,000, compared to 30,000 prior to German reunification. Large cities with significant Jewish populations include Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich.[75] Around 250,000 active Buddhists live in Germany; 50% of them are Asian immigrants.[76]
According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2005, 47% of German citizens agreed with the statement "I believe there is a God", whereas 25% agreed with "I believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 25% said "I do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".
