Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
What percentage of the UK population identifies as Christian?
Executive summary
Official census reporting and multiple analyses show fewer than half of people in the UK now describe themselves as Christian: around 46–46.6% in the 2021 census-derived releases (England & Wales / UK summaries) [1] [2]. That represents a fall of roughly 12–13 percentage points from 2011 levels (about 59–59.5%) and is widely cited across specialist outlets and university reporting [1] [3].
1. Fewer than half: the headline numbers and sources
The clearest, most-repeated figure in the provided material is that approximately 46–46.6% of people identified as Christian in the 2021 census outputs or subsequent summaries: the National Secular Society cites 46.6% (England/Wales/UK composite reporting) [1], ZENIT reports 46.64% of nearly 67 million respondents [2], and several outlets quoting Office for National Statistics-based totals give 46.5% [4] [5]. University and research write-ups similarly report roughly 26.2–27.5 million Christians equivalent to about 46% of the population in 2021 [3] [6].
2. How big the decline has been: decade-to-decade context
Reporting and analysis underline a marked fall since 2011: Christianity fell from roughly 59–59.5% in 2011 to the mid-46% range in 2021, a drop of about 12.9–13 percentage points cited by the National Secular Society and other outlets [1] [4]. The University of Manchester summary likewise frames the change as large: from about 37.3 million (72%) in 2001 to 26.2 million (46%) by 2021 in England specifically — illustrating longer-term secularisation in the census record [3].
3. Geographic and demographic nuance: not uniform across the UK
The decline is uneven across UK nations and age cohorts. Earlier census breakdowns and specialist commentary show differences between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland historically being more Christian than Great Britain) and strong age-patterning where younger cohorts are markedly less likely to report a religion [7] [8]. Analysis from British Religion in Numbers highlights cohort replacement and that many previously “nominal” Christians have shifted to “no religion,” intensifying the drop [9] [8].
4. Counting faith: what the census measures — and what it doesn’t
Census affiliation captures self‑identified religious label on census day; it does not measure practice or strength of belief. Multiple sources stress that the census records identity rather than worship attendance — for example, some outlets note only a small fraction of those identifying Anglican or Catholic actually attend Sunday services regularly [4]. British Religion in Numbers and other analysts warn that part of the fall reflects people who were nominally classed as Christian in earlier censuses now opting for “no religion,” not only absolute loss through conversion [8].
5. Competing interpretations and future projections
Different actors draw divergent conclusions. Secularist organisations argue the numbers demonstrate the UK is no longer a Christian nation and press for institutional reform [1]. Academic commentators and demographers warn for nuance: some argue cohort replacement would still leave a sizeable Christian share (an estimate cited that pure cohort effects might have yielded ~54%), and that migration and differing response patterns affect totals [8] [3]. Forecasts published by specialist groups suggest continued declines in organised church membership and attendance beyond census identity figures, but precise future shares are contested [10] [11].
6. Wider religious landscape: who’s growing and who’s leaving
Alongside the Christian decline, reporting highlights growth in the non‑religious category (roughly 37–38% in recent summaries) and increases in minority religions such as Islam and Hinduism in absolute terms — for example, Islam reported around 6% and Hinduism roughly 1.6–1.7% in cited summaries [4] [2] [7]. Pew-related coverage and humanist commentary emphasise that much of the non‑religious population were raised Christian, indicating internal switching rather than immigration as the main driver of decline [12].
7. What the available sources do not settle
Available sources do not mention a single definitive UK‑wide percentage that reconciles small variations in reporting (46.2%, 46.5%, 46.6%) into one canonical figure; they also do not provide post‑2021 census figures that would show trend continuation beyond 2021 [7] [1] [2]. Where exact decimals differ between outlets, the underlying message is consistent: Christians now form less than half of the population by self‑identification in the 2021 data [1] [2].
In short: the best-supported reading of the provided reporting is that about 46% of the UK identified as Christian in 2021 census-derived summaries — a substantial decline from around 59% in 2011 — but interpretation varies depending on whether one emphasises identity, practice, cohort effects, migration or institutional membership [1] [3] [8].