" Only every fifth Dane considers religion as an important part of everyday life.

Here is the picture turn completely reversed - 81 per cent. of Danes consider not religion as an important part of their everyday lives."

If not for emigrants, this percent would be higher.

One thing that has educated me about other countries is the fact that for so many people religion is for real. I grew up with the notion that religion was not something anyone took seriously, plus the whole topic was more than a little embaressing. It took a long time for me to take in that religion is a reality for a big part of the world, and that in all the really dogmatic countries it determines people's fate. This in spite of the fact that Christianity is the 'state religion', which in this case is simply habit. Very few people take it seriously in DK, so 'religion' as a real concept was something I had in fact never encountered and took a lot of time getting my head around.

"Poorest countries are most religious,
"One theory is that religion plays a more functional role in the world's poorest countries, where faith helps people to cope with the daily struggle to support themselves and their families. A former Gallup analysis supports this idea. Last year we completed the following a three-year analysis that showed that the relationship between religiosity and emotional well-being is strongest in poor countries, "said Gallup editor Steve Crabtree."

Or maybe the history of the land shows that the rulers took up a certain religion for their own purposes, and the citizens had to follow suit. This way the religion would serve as both the instrument to keep people down (there is always a reason why a ruler accepts a new religion) but would also, in many cases, be the only comfort.

Leo9:
" It's a common experience that interest in formal religion falls as a country gets more prosperous, but the exceptions are more interesting than the rule. My guess would be that the key index is not prosperity in the crude measure of GDP or average income, but material security. Denmark and Sweden, despite falling victim to voodoo economics in recent years, have a history of being leaders in the welfare state. I suggest that the counter-examples are countries where, despite a high GDP, a weak welfare or social security system or an uncertain job market undermines the average citizen's security in life."

I think that is definitly part of it.
But it is also noteworthy that the run-away materialism eventually lead to new kinds of religions and spiritualism. Well fed and free people who simply found something lacking.

" Considering that Scandinavia has such a solid Asatro movement, "

Actually, the Asatro movement is quite small in terms of numbers. I think without the emigrants and their religions the Asatro would never have been accepted and allowed to marry people. All religion - before the emigrants - being considered a bit of a joke.