In 2023, Islam was the religion followed by the largest group of foreigners living in Italy, with almost 30 percent of the share. Christians Orthodox represented 29 percent of the total immigrant population, followed by Catholics with 17 percent. About ten percent of the foreign population in Italy did not have any religious affiliation.

Every year, the number of Italian believers attending religious services becomes lower and lower. In 2024, the number of people attending places of worship at least once per week dropped below ten million individuals for the first time since at least 2001, seven million worshipers less than in 2013. In 2020, the most prayerful were the citizens aged over 75 years, whereas the lowest number of individuals attending religious services at least once a week was recorded in the age group between 18 and 19 years. Religious affiliation of Italians Although the dominant religion in Italy is Catholicism, Italian citizens also belong to other religious minorities. In 2020, the largest share of individuals not affiliated to the Roman Catholic Church were Muslims, followed by Jehovah’s Witnesses and Protestants. Reasons to leave religion When asked about the reason they left the religion, 64 percent of the Italian respondents stated that they disagreed with their religion’s position on social issues. Another 60 percent of the interviewees were unhappy about scandals involving religious institutions, whereas six percent left the religion because they married someone outside the faith.

This survey examines a variety of religious and non-religious topics in Italy. Religious topics include: morality of behaviors (abortion, theft, divorce, homosexuality, etc.), religious beliefs, the meaning of life, religious experiences, participation in religious rituals, views concerning and participation in sacraments, moral issues surrounding pregnancy, the role of the Catholic Church in society, obstacles to becoming clergy or a monastic, and belief in paranormal phenomena. Other topics include views on Italy's politics and economy, political party, life satisfaction, use of leisure time, geographic region, and demographic characteristics.

According to data from 2020, more than a half of foreign inhabitants in Italy were Christians (52 percent). Muslims represented 33 percent of all foreign residents in Italy, while almost five percent were either atheist or agnostic.

In 2023, around 1.52 million Muslims lived in Italy. Almost 30 percent of them were represented by Moroccan citizens, with 417,000 people. Islam constitutes the first most common religion of foreigners nationwide. The second-largest religion among immigrants living in Italy is the Christian Orthodox one, considering the large Romanian community residing in the country.

In Italy, more than 50 percent of all the prisoners in 2016 were Catholics. Moreover, 29.1 percent of inmates declared themselves as non-believers or did not declare their religious affiliation. Only 0.06 percent of the prisoners in Italy belong to Jehovah's witnesses.

In 2023, Muslims were the largest religious minority among Italian citizens, with around 566,000 Italians following Islam. Moreover, around 445,000 Italian citizens were Orthodox Christians.

The figure shows the current religious adherence among Italians in 2014, by age. According to the survey, the percentage of the individuals who identified themselves as Catholics increased with age, from 68 percent to 81 percent among individuals over 55 years old.

The Italy faith-based tourism market is estimated to be valued at US$ 72 Million in 2022 and exhibit growth at a CAGR of 9.8% from 2022 to 2032. The share of Italy's faith-based tourism market is approximate 2% - 6% in the global faith-based tourism industry.

Attributes	Key Statistics
Italy Faith-Based Tourism Market Estimated Size (2022)	US$ 72 Million
Value-based CAGR (2022 to 2032)	9.8%
Collective Value Share: Top Players (2021)	4% - 9%

Scope Of The Report

Attributes	Details
Projected Market Valuation (2022)	US$ 72 Million
Value-based CAGR (2022 to 2032)	9.8%
Forecast Period	2022 to 2032
Historical Data Available for	2017 to 2021
Market Analysis	Value (US$ Million)
Key Region Covered	Europe
Key Country Covered	Italy
Key Segments Covered	Tourism Type, Booking Channel, Tourist Type, Tour Type, Age Group, and Region.
Key Companies Profiled	Exodus Travels Sicily Activities Italy Travel Company Hello Florence Tours Travel Srl Venice Italy Travel Luxury Rome Tou Smart Trip Show Me Italy Real Italy Travel LivTours Argiletum Italy Customized Srl Miles & Miles Tours of Rome and Italy Milan Visitor Center- Zani Viaggi Michelangelo International Travel Caf Tour & Travel, Cedars Travel Through Eternity Tours Rome Travels Cosmos
Report Coverage	Market forecast, company share analysis, competition intelligence, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities and Threats analysis, market dynamics and challenges, and strategic growth initiatives

ethnic groups in Italy. name, image, country of origin, continent of origin, Language, Religion, religion, population

In 2020, Islam had the largest share of adherents among religious minorities in Italy. Around 22 percent of worshippers not belonging to the Roman Catholics were Muslims. Other large religious minorities were Jehovah's Witnesses, Protestants, and Orthodoxes.

This study includes data on regional level for nine Western European countries: election returns, occupation categories, religion, population.

The statistic shows the religious adherence of foreigners in Italy in 2017 (in 1,000s), by region. According to data, Lombardy was the region with the highest number of Muslims (360 thousands) and of Christian Catholics (274 thousands).

Results of official censuses of the single countries.

People with upper secondary education represented the largest group of people never attending religious services in Italy. As of 2020, about 6.1 million people with an upper secondary education did not attend any church in the last 12 months. This corresponds to around 32 percent of the Italian population with a high school diploma.

In 2023, Pentecostalism was the largest protestant religious denomination among Italian citizens, with about 250,000 worshipers. Moreover, Lutherans, Calvinists, and other historical protestant denominations were the second-largest group, with 61,000 believers.

The statistic shows the share of Italian citizens belonging to Protestantism in Italy in 2020, by denomination. According to the data, the Pentecostal Church had the largest share of adherents among Protestants, with 65.4 percent of the worshippers.

People with elementary education or no education made up the most numerous group of people attending religious services at least once a week in Italy. As of 2020, about 4.7 million people belonged to this group, which equals to around 30 percent of the total population with a low education. On the contrary, people with university education represented the smallest group of people going to church at least once a week.

Between 2019 and 2020, the percentage of Italian teenagers going to the church at least once a week decreased from roughly 20 percent to 16 percent. Consequently, the share of young Italians who never went to church in the last 12 months experienced an increase.

Between 2010 and 2019, the number of religious marriages in Italy experienced a decrease. On the other hand, civil marriages increased, reaching in 2019 approximately 96.8 thousand.

The region registering the largest amount of marriages was Lombardy, in the North of Italy, where a total of 26 thousand marriages was recorded in 2019.