UK Secularists Hail Census Data: ‘It’s Official – We Are No Longer a Christian Country’

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CNS News

(CNSNews.com) – For the first time ever, census data in England and Wales have found that fewer than half of the population considers itself to be Christian – and groups that reject religion says it’s time that reality is reflected in education, law, and public policy.

Data released on Tuesday from the 2021 census show that those describing themselves as Christians now account for just 46.2 percent of the population – down from 59.3 percent in 2011, and from 72 percent in 2001.

 

Islam, the second-largest faith by adherents, continues to grow. Muslims now comprise 6.5 percent of the population, up from 4.8 percent a decade ago, and from 3 percent in 2001.

Possibly the most striking finding in the new census figures was the increase in the number of those saying that have “no religion” – 37.2 percent, up from 25 percent a decade earlier.

The data covered only England and Wales. The other constituent countries of the United Kingdom, Scotland and Northern Ireland, report separately. (In Northern Ireland, data released last September showed that the number of those choosing “no religion” had climbed from 10.1 percent in 2011 to 17.4 percent in 2021.)