The latest Census data has shown a fall in the number of people who describe themselves as Christian.
The proportion of people in England and Wales identifying as Christian has dropped below 50% for the first time. 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 around a quarter in 2011 (25.2%) to over a third in 2021 (37.2%).
According to the latest figures, the Greater Manchester borough with the largest proportion of people who describe themselves as Christian is Wigan. Meanwhile Manchester has the smallest proportion.
The statistics from the 2021 Census show the percentage of people who identified as Christian for each borough:
- Bolton - 47%
- Bury - 48.8%
- Manchester - 36.2%
- Oldham - 44.9%
- Rochdale - 46.9%
- Salford - 47.7%
- Stockport - 47.5%
- Tameside - 47.8%
- Trafford - 48.4%
- Wigan - 62.8%
Across the UK, here were increases in the proportion of people describing themselves as Muslim (up from 4.9% to 6.5%) and Hindu (from 1.5% to 1.7%). Meanwhile London remains the most religiously diverse region of England, with just over a quarter (25.3%) of people on the day of the 2021 census reporting a religion other than Christian.
South-west 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 94.0% of the population of England and Wales, up from 92.9% in 2011, the ONS added.
The 2021 survey, carried out on March 21 last year, was filled out by more than 24 million households across England and Wales. The data released on Tuesday (November 29) covers ethnicity, religion, national identity and language.
Are you surprised by the results? Have your say in our comments.
The Archbishop of York said the country had “left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian”.
The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell said: “It’s 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 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 10 years has been the dramatic growth of the non-religious. They mean the UK is almost certainly one of the least religious countries on Earth.”
Read next:
