Monitoring Desk
LONDON: Christians are now less than half of the total population of England and Wales, according to the census data released by the Office for Christians National Statistics (ONS).
About 46.2% of the population (27.5 million people) described themselves as “Christian”, with “no religion”, reported by 37.2% (22.2 million people), as the second most common response, revealed the findings from the 10-yearly census, carried out in 2021, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said
Rapid growth of the Muslim population
Meanwhile, the findings revealed rapid growth among the Muslim population which stood at 6.5% of the population (million people).
Christians population on the decline in Wales
In Wales, a decline in Christianity was observed (14.0 percentage point decrease, from 57.6% in 2011 to 43.6% in 2021), with a rise in those who did not associate themselves with any religion (14.5 percentage point increase, from 32.1% in 2011 to 46.5% in 2021) compared to England and Wales overall.
London most religiously diverse region in England
London in 2021 was found to be the most diverse region of England in terms of religion, with over a quarter (25.3%) of all general residents associating with a religion other than Christianity. The North East and South West were reported to be the least religiously diverse regions, with 4.2% and 3.2%, respectively, selecting a religion other than “Christian”.
