Historically, Portugal has been a country of Catholics. The 2021 census demonstrated that this trend has not been inverted, as over 80 percent of the population in Portugal identified as Catholic. Protestant or Evangelic believers accounted for more than two percent of the population, while Jehovah's Witnesses constituted one percent of residents. Among non-Christian faiths, Muslims were the most representative group, making up 0.42 percent of the population.

Religious but generally not practicing the faith

In the same year, Catholics numbered more than seven million people spread throughout the country, conquering the religious majority in the mainland and in the two autonomous regions. Citizens without religion totaled more than 1.2 million, which made of them the second most numerous religious group in Portugal. Young people presented the same religious trend, with young Catholics being the most representative group, followed by non-religious. Among youngsters, the attendance of religious events was mostly conducted occasionally, while a quarter did not participate in such proceedings at all.

The contribute of immigration to the growth of Evangelical Christianity

Despite being the minority, non-Catholic Christian and non-Christian faiths have been growing in Portugal. In 2011, Evangelical believers totaled 75.6 thousand, more than doubling ten years after. Such growth was partially motivated by the increase in Brazilian immigration, as more than 61 percent of new members of Evangelical churches in 2023 were of Brazilian origin. In fact, Brazil was the place of origin of almost 82 percent of all the immigrant Evangelical Christians residing in Portugal. However, more than a quarter of new Evangelical Christians were Portuguese, which shows that other religions, namely Christian Catholicism, have been losing members to Evangelical Catholicism.

The 2021 census showed that, out of almost 8.8 million residents in Portugal aged 15 years and more, over seven million were catholic. The second most representative religious group in the country was protestant, a community with almost 187 thousand members. Islam accounted for almost 36.5 thousand believers, while Judaism for just 2.9 thousand. Those without religion totaled 1.2 million residents.

As of 2023, almost half of young adults between the ages of 18 and 34 years were catholic. Those without religion totaled 38 percent of those surveyed. Just five percent had non-Christian religious beliefs.

Portugal: Christians as percent of the total population: The latest value from 2013 is 86.6 percent, a decline from 87 percent in 2012. In comparison, the world average is 51.1 percent, based on data from 145 countries. Historically, the average for Portugal from 1960 to 2013 is 93.5 percent. The minimum value, 86.6 percent, was reached in 2013 while the maximum of 97.1 percent was recorded in 1960.

About this dataset

Context

This list ranks the 7 cities in the Christian County, IL by Portuguese population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in each city over the past five years.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, including:

• 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Variables / Data Columns

• Rank by Portuguese Population: This column displays the rank of city in the Christian County, IL by their Portuguese population, using the most recent ACS data available.
• City: The City for which the rank is shown in the previous column.
• Portuguese Population: The Portuguese population of the city is shown in this column.
• % of Total City Population: This shows what percentage of the total city population identifies as Portuguese. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• % of Total Christian County Portuguese Population: This tells us how much of the entire Christian County, IL Portuguese population lives in that city. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• 5 Year Rank Trend: This column displays the rank trend across the last 5 years.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

In 2023, 61 percent of people who joined evangelical churches in Portugal during the past three years were of Brazilian origin. People with Portuguese origin amounted to over ** percent of new members of evangelical churches, while six percent of new members had an origin dating back to Portuguese-speaking African countries.

Although traditionally a Catholic country, Spain saw a decline in the number of believers over the past years. Compared to 2011, when the share of believers accounted for slightly over 70 percent of the Spanish population, the Catholic community lost approximately 15 percentage points of their faithful by June 2025 with a share of 56.1 percent of the surveyed population. Believers of a religion other than Catholicism accounted for approximately 3.6 percent of the Spanish population in 2025 according to the most recent data. A Catholic majority, a practicing minority Going to mass is no longer a thing in Spain, or so it would seem when looking at the latest statistics about the matter: over 47 percent of those who consider themselves Catholics almost never attend any religious service in June 2025. The not so Catholic Spain Around 37 percent of the surveyed population stated to be either non-believers or full atheists in 2025. Non-believers or people that do not have a religious faith fluctuated over the past years with the latest figures showing a 21 percent of people that categorize themselves as so. The share of Spanish atheists is on the rise according to the most recent surveys, taking up 13.3 percent of respondents in June 2025.

About this dataset

Context

This list ranks the 4 cities in the Christian County, KY by Portuguese population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in each city over the past five years.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, including:

• 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
• 2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

Variables / Data Columns

• Rank by Portuguese Population: This column displays the rank of city in the Christian County, KY by their Portuguese population, using the most recent ACS data available.
• City: The City for which the rank is shown in the previous column.
• Portuguese Population: The Portuguese population of the city is shown in this column.
• % of Total City Population: This shows what percentage of the total city population identifies as Portuguese. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• % of Total Christian County Portuguese Population: This tells us how much of the entire Christian County, KY Portuguese population lives in that city. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.
• 5 Year Rank Trend: This column displays the rank trend across the last 5 years.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Portugal: Shia Muslims as percent of the total population: Pour cet indicateur, The Cline Center for Democracy fournit des données pour la Portugal de à . La valeur moyenne pour Portugal pendant cette période était de pour cent avec un minimum de pour cent en et un maximum de pour cent en .

This statistic displays the share of people who identity as being Christian in selected Western European countries in 2017. Portugal is the country with the highest proportion of respondents identifying as Christians at ** percent. On the other side of the scale, the Netherlands is the only country in this statistic where less than half the respondents advised they were Christian.

During a 2022 survey conducted in the United States, it was found that 91 percent of respondents had heard of Pope Benedict XVI. Around 39 percent of interviewees stated that they liked him, whereas 23 percent claimed the opposite. On the contrary, 29 percent of respondents were neutral.

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI was born in Bavaria, Germany as Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger. He was elected as Pope in 2005 after Pope John Paul II and led the Catholic Church until 2013. Indeed, in that year, he announced his resignation due to his advanced age, the first papal resignation after Gregory XII in 1415.

Catholicism in the world

Catholicism is one of the main religions in Europe, mostly practiced in southern countries like Italy, Spain, and Portugal. For instance, almost 60 percent of Spanish people considered themselves Catholic in 2022, although this is down from over 70 percent a decade earlier. Despite Protestantism being the main religion in the North, some northern Europeans are Catholic. For example, over 25 percent of the German population was Catholic in 2021. Finally, at lower rates, Catholicism is also practiced in other countries like the United States, with around 13 percent of Americans identifying as Catholic.