Some people selected the ‘Any Other Religion, write in’ box and specified their own religion. Notes for changing picture of religious affiliation over last decade ONS will explore these factors further as part of its analysis programme of the census. There are many factors driving changes in religious affiliation including natural growth (for example, some minority religious groups have a younger demographic profile), migration, changes in willingness to report and awareness of the question. However, comparisons between the census and social survey data should be treated with caution due to methodological differences. The Annual Population Survey data in 2011 show 27.9 per cent of the population in England and Wales have no religion, 63.1 per cent are Christian, 4.8 per cent are Muslim, 1.5 per cent are Hindu while Buddhist, Jewish and Sikh each account for less than 1.0 per cent. These trends are consistent with data from other sources which show a decline in religious affiliation. Source: Census - Office for National Statisticsĭownload this chart Figure 3: Change in religious affiliation, 2001-2011, England and Wales Image Figure 1: Religious affiliation, England and Wales, 2011 The religion question was the only voluntary question on the 2011 census and 7.2 per cent of people did not answer the question. Some of the other higher reporting groups included Mixed Religion with 24,000 people, Jain with 20,000 people and Ravidassia with 11,000 people.
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The most common groups were Pagan and Spiritualist, accounting for 57,000 people and 39,000 people respectively. Of the other main religious groups: 817,000 people identified themselves as Hindu (1.5 per cent of population) 423,000 people identified as Sikh (0.8 per cent ) 263,000 people as Jewish (0.5 per cent ) and 248,000 people as Buddhist (0.4 per cent ).Ģ40,000 people (0.4 per cent ) identified with religions which did not fall into any of the main religious categories 1. Muslims were the next largest religious group with 2.7 million people (4.8 per cent of the population).ġ4.1 million people in England and Wales said they had no religion, around a quarter (25.1 per cent ) of the population. The largest religion in the 2011 Census for England and Wales was Christianity with 33.2 million people (59.3 per cent of the population). Changing picture of religious affiliation over last decade Norwich had the highest proportion of the population reporting no religion at 42.5 per cent.ģ. Knowsley was the local authority with the highest proportion of people reporting to be Christians at 80.9 per cent and Tower Hamlets had the highest proportion of Muslims at 34.5 per cent (over 7 times the England and Wales figure). The North East and North West had the highest proportion of Christians and Wales had the highest proportion of people reporting no religion. In 2011, London was the most diverse region with the highest proportion of people identifying themselves as Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish. There were increases in the other main religious group categories, with the number of Muslims increasing the most (from 3.0 per cent to 4.8 per cent). The religion question was the only voluntary question on the 2011 census and 7.2 per cent of people did not answer the question.īetween 20 there has been a decrease in people who identify as Christian (from 71.7 per cent to 59.3 per cent) and an increase in those reporting no religion (from 14.8 per cent to 25.1 per cent). The second largest religious group were Muslims with 2.7 million people (4.8 per cent of the population).ġ4.1 million people, around a quarter of the population in England and Wales, reported they have no religion in 2011. In the 2011 Census, Christianity was the largest religion, with 33.2 million people (59.3 per cent of the population).
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Meanwhile the proportion of the population who reported they have no religion has now reached a quarter of the population. Muslims are the next biggest religious group and have grown in the last decade. Despite falling numbers Christianity remains the largest religion in England and Wales in 2011.