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Claim: Online media group, OMGVoice, claims that Ghana is the 8th most prayerful country in the world. They cite the Pew Research Center to back this claim.
Verdict: While the Pew Research Center has a survey report on the daily prayer rate of some 102 countries, it is not true that Ghana was ranked 8 in the world.
Full Text
Popular online media group OMGVoice has made a social media post listing approximately 20 countries that pray the most. They cite the US-based Pew Research Center and the World Bank as sources for the list.
“Ghana is the 8th most prayerful country in the world – 73% of the population prays every day, according to Pew Research Center, World Bank Research,” the media group wrote on a news card that has been published on Facebook and garnered over one thousand impressions. The post has also been shared on Instagram.
We observed that other pages on Facebook, such 7DSGH TV, and Fox Media, which have over 1,000 followers each, have made a similar post.
These claims surface amid recent public criticism of large Christian gatherings, especially 31st December watch night services and other major church events organised to usher believers into 2026.
DUBAWA Ghana decided to investigate the claim due to its widespread social media circulation and its reliance on the Pew Research Center’s credibility, which could mislead the public if inaccurately cited.
Verification
In investigating this claim, the researcher decided to focus on the source provided by the claimant. This is because there are no established global metrics for measuring which country prays more.
In May 2019, the Pew Research Center published an article detailing the rate of daily prayer among citizens of some 102 countries.
They indicated that countries with lower wealth tend to have higher prayer rates.
“Every country where at least 70% of adults say that they pray each day has a per-capita GDP under $20,000. For example, in Egypt, where 72% say they pray every day, per-capita GDP is about $11,000. And in Afghanistan, where 96% of adults say they pray every day, the per-capita GDP is about $2,000,” Pew Research Center reported.
Source: Pew Research Center.
From the chart, at least 13 countries, including Afghanistan, Nigeria, Senegal, Djibouti, Algeria, Iran, Chad, Guatemala, Indonesia, Paraguay, Morocco, Kenya, and Costa Rica, are ranked higher than Ghana.
Conclusion
Data from the Pew Research Center does not support the assertion that Ghana ranks 8th in the world by the percentage of people who say they pray daily.
