For the first time in a census less than half of the population in England and Wales identifies as Christian with “no religion” standing as the most common response to the religion question.
The census numbers, released Tuesday, showed that the percentage of individuals who identified as Christian stood at 46.2%, down from 59.3% ten years ago in 2011. (RELATED: ‘No Longer Appropriate’: Prosecutors Want To Criminalize Reading Parts Of The Bible In Public)
“No religion” was the second most chosen option, with 37.2% choosing the identification, which was higher than it was ten years ago, when 25.2% identified with no religion.
We’ve released new #Census2021 data on religion in England and Wales.
46.2% said they were “Christian” – less than half of the population for the first time.
This was a decrease from 59.3% in 2011, but still the most common response.
➡️ https://t.co/Nv6VDkSO9i pic.twitter.com/HtoYJl7jkn
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) November 29, 2022
The percentage of individuals who identified as Muslim rose from what it was 10 years ago, with 1.7% choosing the identification compared with 1.5% in 2011.
For people whose religion wasn’t listed on the census, they could write in an option. The most commonly written-in option was “pagan,” at 74,000 write-ins.
“There are many factors that may be contributing to the changing religious composition of England and Wales, such as differing patterns of ageing, fertility, mortality, and migration,” the report reads.