More than 9 in 10 Americans still say “yes” when asked the basic question “Do you believe in God?”, a figure which is virtually unchanged since the 1940s, according to a new Gallup poll.

The study confirms a range of surveys which show that the US, despite a fall in reported religious practice, remains far more religious than the average Western industrialised country.

According to the most recent Irish survey on religious belief, conducted by Maynooth sociologist Dr Michéal MacGréil, 96 per cent of Irish people report having a belief in God.

The Gallup polling company said that it initially asked the question wording in November 1944, when 96pc said “yes.” That percentage dropped to 94pc in 1947, but increased to 98pc in several Gallup surveys conducted in the 1950s and 1960s.

Gallup said that “[d]espite the many changes that have rippled through American society over the last six and a half decades, belief in God as measured in this direct way has remained high and relatively stable”.

Belief in God appears to be generally high across most subgroups of the American population, analysis of the figures shows.

The data indicates that belief in God drops below 90pc among younger Americans, backing up other surveys showing that those aged 18-25 are less religious than earlier generations.

Recent research conducted by Professor Robert Putnam, a Harvard sociologist, found that between 30 and 40pc of young Americans say they have no religious affiliation.

However, 84pc of those aged between 18 and 29 still profess a belief in God, according to the survey.

Those who described themselves as liberals politically (85pc), those living in the East (86pc), those with postgraduate educations (87pc), and political independents (89) also tended to be slightly less likely to believe in God.
 
However 94pc of those with college degrees reported believing in God, while 96pc of those who live in the South and 98pc of Republicans report believing in God, the survey shows.