This statistic shows the distribution of respondents of a 2014 survey investigating which religions were followed in Great Britain. Seven of the thirteen options were Christian denominations, and in total 86 percent of respondents followed a Christian denomination. Over half of respondents were Church of England, Anglican or Episcopal.

In 2021, the largest religion in England and Wales was Christianity, with approximately 27.52 million adherents. Although Christianity was the largest religion, the number of followers has declined when compared with ten years earlier, when there were almost 33.27 million Christians.

As of January 2025, approximately 35 percent of people in Great Britain said that they believed in a God / Gods, compared with 32 percent who had no belief in God / Gods at all.

Table showing percentage of resident population (all ages) broken down into six faiths, plus no religion and any other religion.

The data covers: Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, any other religion and no religion at all.

Percentages and confidence intervals are shown.

Or alternatively, faith data from the 2011 Census is able to show numbers for each of the main religions.

The statistic shows religion membership in the United Kingdom in 2011. In 2011, 71.6 percent of the total population of the UK identified themselves as Christians.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

These data were computerised by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and its collaborators. They form part of the Great Britain Historical Database, which contains a wide range of geographically-located statistics, selected to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain, generally at sub-county scales.

The 1851 Census of Religious Worship was a separate census from the 1851 Census of Population, gathering data on church attendance on Sunday 30th March 1851. These data are taken from the published reports, which for England and Wales assemble data by Registration District, and for Scotland by counties and burghs. The data for England and Wales were computerised by Paul Ell as part of his doctoral research, and include some changes to the tabulated numbers based on information in the footnotes to the tables. The Scottish data were computerised later for the GBHDB, with funding from the ESRC and the UK National Lottery.

The data list, for each religious denomination within each area, the number of churches, the number of "sittings" (total seats available across all services on the census Sunday) and the number of "attendances", i.e. persons attending services. The only non-Christian group included were Jews.

Time-series dataset of the demographic characteristics of the UK ethnic minority populations and religious groups up to 2006, to study ethnic and religious demographic diversity and its impact upon future population size, age-structure and the ethnic and religious composition of the UK population. This dataset is compiled from various existing data sources: 2001 Census, Labour Force Survey (LFS) and International Passenger Survey (IPS) data. In the absence of vital statistics by ethnic groups, indirect methods were used to estimate vital rates, including the ‘Own Child’ method applied to LFS household data to derive fertility estimates of ethnic and religious groups. Building on previous work, fertility rates of ethnic groups were produced up to 2006, distinguishing between UK-born and foreign-born populations. Migration rates were based on ONS International Migration Statistics (using IPS data), LFS and census data and projected on various assumptions. The results served population projections to mid-century and beyond of the main ethnic minority populations, including mixed populations, and using cohort-component methods. Furthermore, estimates of fertility rates for the major religious (and non-religious) groups were produced.

Datasets include: (1) Calculated fertility estimates for all women aged 15 to 49 in the UK, by 5 years age group, by ethnic group, religion and place of birth (UK/non-UK), based on LFS data; (2) Data on mixed children by ethnic group of the mother; (3) Data on country of birth by ethnic group (all populations); (4) Data on immigration flow by country of origin.

This project aims to analyse ethnic and religious demographic diversity, to investigate the potential for convergence of trends over time and its impact upon future population size, age-structure and the ethnic and religious composition of the UK population.

Existing statistical sources (especially the 2001 Census, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Survey) will be used to produce time-series of the demographic characteristics of the ethnic minority populations and religious groups up to 2006. In the absence of vital statistics by ethnic groups, the Own Child method applied to LFS and census data will be used to derive fertility estimates of ethnic and religious groups.

The results will serve population projections to mid-century and beyond of the main ethnic minority populations, including mixed populations, and using cohort-component methods. Migration rates will be based on ONS International Migration Statistics, LFS and census data and projected on various assumptions.

Furthermore, estimates of fertility rates and other demographic information for the major religious (and non-religious) groups will be produced with a view to making preliminary projections of their future size. The potential convergence of the demographic characteristics of ethnic and religious groups will be analysed, including mixed unions as an indicator for integration.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify Household Reference Persons aged 16 years and over in employment the week before the census in England and Wales by whether residents have identified with one or multiple religions in the household, by occupation. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using this data for planning purposes. Read more about this quality notice.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Lower tier local authorities

Lower tier local authorities provide a range of local services. There are 309 lower tier local authorities in England made up of 181 non-metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts and 33 London boroughs (including City of London). In Wales there are 22 local authorities made up of 22 unitary authorities.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. However, you can choose to filter areas by:

• country - for example, Wales
• region - for example, London
• local authority - for example, Cornwall
• health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
• statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

Multiple religions in household

Classifies households by whether members identify with the same religion, no religion, did not answer the question, or a combination of these options.

This question was voluntary and the variable includes those who answered the question alongside those who chose not to.

Occupation (current)

Classifies what people aged 16 years and over do as their main job. Their job title or details of activities they do in their job and any supervisory or management responsibilities form this classification. This information is used to code responses to an occupation using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2020.

It classifies people who were in employment between 15 March and 21 March 2021, by the SOC code that represents their current occupation.

The lowest level of detail available is the four-digit SOC code which includes all codes in three, two and one digit SOC code levels.

Dataset population: Persons

Religion

This is a person's current religion, or if the person does not have a religion, 'No religion'. No determination is made about whether a person was a practicing member of a religion. Unlike other census questions where missing answers are imputed, this question was voluntary and where no answer was provided, the response is categorised as 'Not stated'.

Approximately 39,068 prisoners in England and Wales identified as being Christian in 2024, the most of any religious faith among prisoners. A further 27,122 identified as having no religion, while 15,909 identified as Muslims.

This research project aimed to describe and explain how children of primary school age and under are brought up to be Muslims. The project began with secondary quantitative analysis of the Home Office Citizenship Survey. The main part of the research was a qualitative case study of Muslims in Cardiff. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were used in 60 families with at least one child and usually two parents. In 24 of these families, children kept oral diaries and took photographs of places and events with religious significance. Observations were also carried out by researchers of formal education.

The proposed research aims to describe and explain how children of primary school age and under are brought up to be Muslims. The topic of religious nurture is of interest in relation to all faiths, but given the diversity of schools of thought and ethnic groups amongst British Muslims, there is a strong argument for a detailed study of Islam in particular. Since there has already been attention paid by researchers to Muslim adolescents and 'young people' in recent years, the intention for this proposed project is to focus on families with children of primary school age and younger. The research questions are as follows: - How do different family members negotiate religious nurture in the context of a non-Muslim society? - How do children understand their religion? - How does religious nurture differ according to children's age, perceived stage and gender? - How does religious nurture differ between families according to religious traditions, ethnic backgrounds and social class? - How does religious nurture fit with parents' attempts to transmit ethnic and national identities to children? - How important is ritual to religious nurture? Are there particular places that have religious significance? - Is there evidence of increasing secular influences on Islamic beliefs and practices in Muslim families? - Is there evidence that ideas of spirituality and personal well-being are meaningful to Muslim families? The first task will be secondary quantitative analysis of existing government survey data (including the Home Office's Citizenship Survey). This analysis will both be of substantive interest in its own right and will also inform the sampling strategy for the main element of the research project, which is a qualitative case study of Muslims in Cardiff. This particular location has been chosen because its diverse Muslim population is fairly representative of the range of Muslim traditions and different ethnic groups in the UK. The qualitative research will consist of the following elements: - In 60 families there will be semi-structured interviews with at least one child and usually with two parents (although other family members would also be invited to take part) - In 30 of these families, children will be asked to keep oral diaries (via digital recorders) and to take photographs of places and events with religious significance - In 15 of these families there will also be some observation by the researchers of everyday religious practices. As well as being presented to academic audiences via a book, journals and conferences, there will be a public event to launch the research for a non-academic audience and a 'family day' for people who participated in the research, which will include child-friendly activities and entertainment. There will also be presentations at practice/policy conferences that are geared towards Muslim organisations and people working with children and families. The principal applicant has relevant experience in research on gender, family welfare and children's national and ethnic identities. The co-applicant has conducted research on various aspects of British Islam and is the Director of the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK.

People identified as homeless by ethnic group, national identity, religion, main language, and English language proficiency.

Brings together statistics from the Census on the key demographic, geographic, household and labour market differences between the main ethnic and religious groups in Great Britain.

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: Official Statistics not designated as National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Focus on Ethnicity and Religion

This statistic displays the share of respondents who believed that religion is a positive influence on the world in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017. Of the different generational groups identified, the group who agreed with this the most was the Gen Z group, with 22 percent stating that religion is a positive influence on the world. The generational group who agreed with this the least was the Gen X group, with only 12 percent from this group agreeing that religion is a positive influence on the world.

These statistics contain the first phase of main statistics results from Census 2021. This phase provides estimates for a number of census topics, including passports held, ethnic group, national identity, language, and religion.

Data are available for Northern Ireland and the 11 Local Government Districts.

Great Britain-Religion-16th century is a book subject. It includes 7 books, written by 5 different authors.

Sikh identity by main language, English language proficiency and national identity with age and sex breakdowns across different geographical areas.

Religion, Prehistoric-Great Britain is a book subject. It includes 5 books, written by 5 different authors.

This data collection consists of semi- structured interviews conducted between 2013 and 2015 with a cross-section of religious and political activists in Belfast, Bradford, Dublin and London exploring attitudes to martyrdom and self-sacrifice since 1914. The research project examined the development of the concept of martyrdom and sacrificial death in Britain and Ireland since the outbreak of the First World War. It proceeded through archival, library and web-based research on historic sources, including books and pamphlets, newspapers and online databases, supplemented as necessary by site visits. The leadership activities sought to integrate key insights from other relevant GU projects, exploring both various understandings of religion and quasi-religion, and weighing their importance against other non-religious factors. Work proceeded by means of telephone interviews with researchers leading to an initial working paper. User responses were gathered through two seminars and the project website; and selected researchers attended a symposium intended to distil insights and implications for users and to present them in an accessible form. A widely-circulated hardcopy summary of the outcomes together with online video resources was made available to users, who were invited to attend one of a series of dissemination seminars to be held at various locations around the UK. The leadership interviews and accompanying documentation are also deposited in the UK Data Archive in the collection 'Religion martyrdom and global uncertainties - Part 1: Leadership interviews' (see Related Resources). The data was collected in semi-structured interviews, which were subsequently transcribed. The Belfast, Bradford and Dublin interviews were conducted by the Belfast-based Institute for Conflict Research, who were contracted as consultants on the project - the Belfast ones by John Bell and the Bradford and Dublin ones by Neil Jarman The London interviews were conducted by Gavin Moorhead, the project Research Associate. All three interviewers followed a structure developed by the PI and discussed with them in advance. The PI also sat in on a selection of interviews. The objective was to achieve a sample of equal proportions of Catholics, Muslims and Protestants across the four case study sites, taking into account the relative numbers of each group in the four cities. Thus Protestants make up the majority of the Belfast sample, Catholics predominate in Dublin, Muslims in Bradford. These identifications were made on the basis of community background not active religious practice, although interviewees were asked to about their religious practice (or absence of it). A parallel objective was to ensure that at least a third of interviewees were women. The eventual distribution of 46 interviews (including one double interview) was Protestant 13, Muslim 16, Catholic 17; Male 30; Female 16. No attempt was made to achieve an even age distribution, as this was thought to be unrealistic in a limited sample alongside the other sampling requirements: it will be noted that the Catholic and Protestant interviewees were in general older than the Muslim ones. Interviewees were identified through existing contacts and networks and through some 'snowballing'. The researchers received valuable assistance from Dr Muhammad Ilyas in approaching Muslim interviewees in London.