Mapped: Where Male Circumcision is Most Common in the World

Mapped: Where Male Circumcision Is Most Common in the World

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Health organizations are currently divided on whether male circumcision is beneficial or not.

Some research suggests it can lower the rates of urinary tract infections and improve overall penile health, but the procedure can also lead to infection and can be seen as unnecessary.

Culturally as well, regions of the world are starkly divided on the practice and we visualize this by mapping out the rates by country.

Data for this map is sourced from the “Estimation of Country-Specific and Global Prevalence of Male Circumcision”, a paper published on BioMedCentral in 2016. It is the latest complete data available on this topic.

A Regional Breakdown of Circumcision Rates

Male circumcision is more common in countries where Islam and Judaism emphasize it as a religious practice.

Consequently, in North Africa and the Middle East, 99% of men aged 15 and older are circumcised.

Country	ISO Code	Male Circumcision Rate (Men Aged 15+)
🇦🇫 Afghanistan	AFG	99.8%
🇦🇱 Albania	ALB	47.7%
🇩🇿 Algeria	DZA	97.9%
🇦🇴 Angola	AGO	57.5%
🇦🇷 Argentina	ARG	2.9%
🇦🇲 Armenia	ARM	0.1%
🇦🇺 Australia	AUS	58.0%
🇦🇹 Austria	AUT	5.8%
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	AZE	98.5%
🇧🇭 Bahrain	BHR	81.2%
🇧🇩 Bangladesh	BGD	93.2%
🇧🇾 Belarus	BLR	0.3%
🇧🇪 Belgium	BEL	22.6%
🇧🇿 Belize	BLZ	0.1%
🇧🇯 Benin	BEN	92.9%
🇧🇹 Bhutan	BTN	1.0%
🇧🇴 Bolivia	BOL	0.1%
🇧🇦 Bosnia & Herzegovina	BIH	41.6%
🇧🇼 Botswana	BWA	15.1%
🇧🇷 Brazil	BRA	1.3%
🇧🇳 Brunei	BRN	51.9%
🇧🇬 Bulgaria	BGR	13.4%
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	BFA	88.3%
🇧🇮 Burundi	BDI	61.7%
🇰🇭 Cambodia	KHM	3.5%
🇨🇲 Cameroon	CMR	94.0%
🇨🇦 Canada	CAN	31.9%
🇨🇫 Central African Republic	CAF	63.0%
🇹🇩 Chad	TCD	73.5%
🇨🇱 Chile	CHL	0.2%
🇨🇳 China	CHN	14.0%
🇨🇴 Colombia	COL	4.2%
🇨🇷 Costa Rica	CRI	0.1%
🇭🇷 Croatia	HRV	1.3%
🇨🇺 Cuba	CUB	0.1%
🇨🇾 Cyprus	CYP	22.7%
🇨🇿 Czechia	CZE	0.1%
🇨🇩 DRC	COD	97.2%
🇩🇰 Denmark	DNK	5.3%
🇩🇯 Djibouti	DJI	96.5%
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	DOM	13.7%
🇹🇱 East Timor	TLS	6.4%
🇪🇨 Ecuador	ECU	0.1%
🇪🇬 Egypt	EGY	94.7%
🇸🇻 El Salvador	SLV	0.1%
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	GNQ	87.0%
🇪🇷 Eritrea	ERI	97.2%
🇪🇪 Estonia	EST	0.3%
🇸🇿 eSwatini	SWZ	8.2%
🇪🇹 Ethiopia	ETH	92.2%
🇫🇰 Falkland Islands	FLK	0.1%
🇫🇯 Fiji	FJI	55.0%
🇫🇮 Finland	FIN	0.8%
🇫🇷 France	FRA	14.0%
🇬🇦 Gabon	GAB	99.2%
🇬🇲 Gambia	GMB	94.5%
🇬🇪 Georgia	GEO	10.6%
🇩🇪 Germany	DEU	6.7%
🇬🇭 Ghana	GHA	91.6%
🇬🇷 Greece	GRC	4.7%
🇬🇱 Greenland	GRL	0.1%
🇬🇹 Guatemala	GTM	0.1%
🇬🇳 Guinea	GIN	84.2%
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	GNB	93.3%
🇬🇾 Guyana	GUY	12.0%
🇭🇹 Haiti	HTI	6.2%
🇭🇳 Honduras	HND	0.1%
🇭🇰 Hong Kong	HKG	28.0%
🇭🇺 Hungary	HUN	0.8%
🇮🇸 Iceland	ISL	0.1%
🇮🇳 India	IND	13.5%
🇮🇩 Indonesia	IDN	92.5%
🇮🇷 Iran	IRN	99.7%
🇮🇶 Iraq	IRQ	98.9%
🇮🇪 Ireland	IRL	0.9%
🇮🇱 Israel	ISR	91.7%
🇮🇹 Italy	ITA	2.6%
🇨🇮 Ivory Coast	CIV	96.7%
🇯🇲 Jamaica	JAM	14.0%
🇯🇵 Japan	JPN	9.0%
🇯🇴 Jordan	JOR	98.8%
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	KAZ	56.4%
🇰🇪 Kenya	KEN	91.2%
🇽🇰 Kosovo	KOS	91.7%
🇰🇼 Kuwait	KWT	86.4%
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	KGZ	91.9%
🇱🇦 Laos	LAO	0.1%
🇱🇻 Latvia	LVA	0.4%
🇱🇧 Lebanon	LBN	59.7%
🇱🇸 Lesotho	LSO	52.0%
🇱🇷 Liberia	LBR	97.7%
🇱🇾 Libya	LBY	96.6%
🇱🇹 Lithuania	LTU	0.2%
🇱🇺 Luxembourg	LUX	2.4%
🇲🇬 Madagascar	MDG	94.7%
🇲🇼 Malawi	MWI	21.6%
🇲🇾 Malaysia	MYS	61.4%
🇲🇻 Maldives	MDV	98.4%
🇲🇱 Mali	MLI	86.0%
🇲🇹 Malta	MLT	0.3%
🇲🇷 Mauritania	MRT	99.2%
🇲🇺 Mauritius	MUS	16.6%
🇲🇽 Mexico	MEX	15.4%
🇲🇩 Moldova	MDA	0.5%
🇲🇳 Mongolia	MNG	4.4%
🇲🇪 Montenegro	MNE	18.5%
🇲🇦 Morocco	MAR	99.9%
🇲🇿 Mozambique	MOZ	47.4%
🇲🇲 Myanmar	MMR	3.5%
🇳🇦 Namibia	NAM	25.5%
🇳🇵 Nepal	NPL	4.2%
🇳🇱 Netherlands	NLD	5.7%
🇳🇨 New Caledonia	NCL	50.0%
🇳🇿 New Zealand	NZL	33.0%
🇳🇮 Nicaragua	NIC	0.1%
🇳🇪 Niger	NER	95.5%
🇳🇬 Nigeria	NGA	98.9%
🇰🇵 North Korea	PRK	0.1%
🇲🇰 North Macedonia	MKD	33.9%
🇳🇴 Norway	NOR	3.0%
🇴🇲 Oman	OMN	87.7%
🇵🇰 Pakistan	PAK	96.4%
🇵🇸 Palestine	PSX	99.9%
🇵🇦 Panama	PAN	0.9%
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	PNG	10.1%
🇵🇾 Paraguay	PRY	0.1%
🇵🇪 Peru	PER	3.7%
🇵🇭 Philippines	PHL	91.7%
🇵🇱 Poland	POL	0.1%
🇵🇹 Portugal	PRT	0.6%
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	PRI	0.1%
🇶🇦 Qatar	QAT	77.5%
🇷🇸 Serbia	SRB	3.7%
🇨🇬 Congo	COG	70.0%
🇷🇴 Romania	ROU	0.3%
🇷🇺 Russia	RUS	11.8%
🇷🇼 Rwanda	RWA	13.3%
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	SAU	97.1%
🇸🇳 Senegal	SEN	93.5%
🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	SLE	96.1%
🇸🇬 Singapore	SGP	14.9%
🇸🇰 Slovakia	SVK	0.1%
🇸🇮 Slovenia	SVN	8.5%
🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	SLB	95.0%
🇸🇴 Somalia	SOM	93.5%
🇿🇦 South Africa	ZAF	44.7%
🇰🇷 South Korea	KOR	77.0%
🇸🇸 South Sudan	SDS	23.6%
🇪🇸 Spain	ESP	6.6%
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	LKA	8.5%
🇸🇩 Sudan	SDN	39.4%
🇸🇷 Suriname	SUR	15.9%
🇸🇪 Sweden	SWE	5.1%
🇨🇭 Switzerland	CHE	5.9%
🇸🇾 Syria	SYR	92.8%
🇹🇼 Taiwan	TWN	8.3%
🇹🇯 Tajikistan	TJK	99.0%
🇹🇭 Thailand	THA	11.9%
🇧🇸 The Bahamas	BHS	0.2%
🇹🇬 Togo	TGO	95.2%
🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago	TTO	5.8%
🇹🇳 Tunisia	TUN	99.8%
🇹🇷 Turkey	TUR	98.6%
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	TKM	93.4%
🇺🇬 Uganda	UGA	26.7%
🇺🇦 Ukraine	UKR	2.3%
🇦🇪 UAE	ARE	76.0%
🇬🇧 UK	GBR	20.7%
🇹🇿 Tanzania	TZA	72.0%
🇺🇸 U.S.	USA	80.5%
🇺🇾 Uruguay	URY	0.6%
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	UZB	96.5%
🇻🇺 Vanuatu	VUT	95.0%
🇻🇪 Venezuela	VEN	0.3%
🇻🇳 Vietnam	VNM	0.2%
🇪🇭 Western Sahara	SAH	99.6%
🇾🇪 Yemen	YEM	99.0%
🇿🇲 Zambia	ZMB	12.8%
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	ZWE	9.2%
🌎 World Average	N/A	38.7%

Meanwhile, South America and Europe have low rates, as do parts of Asia where Islam is not a majority religion.

However, there are some interesting standouts in this map. For example, South Korea, the U.S., and Australia have male circumcision rates above 50%, but all have combined Muslim and Jewish populations under 5% of the overall total.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the WHO recommends voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) to reduce HIV risk for heterosexual men in high-incidence areas like Eastern Africa. However, it also states it is one of many prevention methods, alongside condom use and post-exposure treatment.

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Islam is the second-largest religion in the world with nearly 1.8 billion followers. Check out Charted: The World’s Largest Religions to see where Judaism ranks.