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Proportion of Christians in England and Wales falls

Published : Tuesday, 29 November, 2022 at 8:30 PM  Count : 493

Proportion of Christians in England and Wales falls

Proportion of Christians in England and Wales falls


The proportion of people in England and Wales identifying as Christian has fallen below 50% for the first time, according to census data, reports Press Association.

Some 46.2% of the population described themselves as Christian on the day of the 2021 census, down from 59.3% a decade earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
This is the first time the proportion has dropped below half.

The percentage of people saying they had no religion jumped from 25.2% in 2011 to 37.2% in 2021.

The proportion of people describing themselves as Muslim increased from 4.9% to 6.5% and the percentage of people saying they were Hindu went up from 1.5% to 1.7%.

London remains the most religiously diverse region of England, with just over a quarter of people on the day of the 2021 census reporting a religion other than Christian.

Southwest England is the least religiously diverse region, with 3.2% selecting a religion other than Christian.

The religion question was voluntary on the 2021 census but was answered by 94% of the population of England and Wales, up from 92.9% in 2011, the ONS added.

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said the country had "left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian".

"It is not a great surprise that the census shows fewer people in this country identifying as Christian than in the past, but it still throws down a challenge to us not only to trust that God will build his kingdom on Earth but also to play our part in making Christ known."

Humanists UK ran a campaign in the run-up to the 2011 and 2021 censuses encouraging non-religious people to tick the 'no religion' box on the form.

Chief Executive of Humanists UK Andrew Copson said the figures should be a "wake-up call which prompts fresh reconsiderations of the role of religion in society".

He said, "These results confirm that the biggest demographic change in England and Wales of the last ten years has been the dramatic growth of the non-religious."

The 2021 survey, carried out on 21 March last year, was filled out by more than 24 million households across England and Wales.

The data released on Tuesday covers ethnicity, religion, national identity and language.

More data will be published in stages over the next two years.

END/SZA






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