- About 46% of people in England and Wales said they were Christians in 2021, marking the first time a minority of residents have followed the official state religion, the Associated Press reported. Christians made up 59% of the population in 2011.
- The Muslim population grew from 4.9% in 2011, to 6.5%, while people who identified as Hindu increased from 1.5% to 1.7%. Similarly, those who said they were Sikh increased from 0.8% to 0.9%, and Buddhists also grew 0.1% to 0.5% in 2021, Census data shows.
- The only religious group to remain stable over the decade was the 0.5% of people who identified as Jewish.
- Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they did not have a religion, up from 25% a decade ago.
- “We have left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian, but other surveys consistently show how the same people still seek spiritual truth and wisdom and a set of values to live by,” said Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, a top Church of England cleric.
