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.
Islam is the major religion in many African countries, especially in the north of the continent. In Comoros, Libya, Western Sahara, at least 99 percent of the population was Muslim as of 202. These were the highest percentages on the continent. However, also in many other African nations, the majority of the population was Muslim. In Egypt, for instance, Islam was the religion of 79 percent of the people. Islam and other religions in Africa Africa accounts for an important share of the world’s Muslim population. As of 2019, 16 percent of the Muslims worldwide lived in Sub-Saharan Africa, while 20 percent of them lived in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Together with Christianity, Islam is the most common religious affiliation in Africa, followed by several traditional African religions. Although to a smaller extent, numerous other religions are practiced on the continent: these include Judaism, the Baha’i Faith, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Number of Muslims worldwide Islam is one of the most widespread religions in the world. There are approximately 1.9 billion Muslims globally, with the largest Muslim communities living in the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, Indonesia hosts the highest number of Muslims worldwide, amounting to over 200 million, followed by India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Islam is also present in Europe and America. The largest Islamic communities in Europe are in France (5.72 million), Germany (4.95 million), and the United Kingdom (4.13 million). In the United States, there is an estimated number of around 3.45 million Muslims.
http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licencehttp://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licence
This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by religion. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.
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.
Coverage
Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. Data are also available in these geographic types:
Religion (10 categories)
The religion people connect or identify with (their religious affiliation), whether or not they practice or have belief in it.
This question was voluntary and includes people who identified with one of 8 tick-box response options, including ‘No religion’, alongside those who chose not to answer this question. itionally classified as upper tier local authorities.
As of 2018, the highest level educational attainment of approximately 34.5 percent of Muslims in England and Wales was a degree of equivalent. In the same year, 14.2 percent of Muslims in England and Wales were estimated to have no qualifications.
This briefing has been published alongside the 2012/2013 statistics on Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation, to provide more detailed information. The short article is intended as additional analysis following a comment in the 2011 annual report by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, David Anderson Q.C., identifying a perceived link between religion and sentence length for those arrested for terrorism-related offences.
“Some Muslims believe that there is a greater readiness on the part of press, politicians, police and law enforcement officers to characterise attacks by Muslims as ‘terrorism’ than attacks by far-right extremists. This, they say, results in discriminatory sentencing and cements popular perceptions of terrorism, at least in Great Britain, as crime perpetrated overwhelmingly by Muslims.” (https://terrorismlegislationreviewer.independent.gov.uk/report-on-the-terrorism-acts-in-2011/" class="govuk-link">The Terrorism Acts in 2011, David Anderson Q.C., June 2012, p.26).
http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licencehttp://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licence
Census 2021 data on religion by economic activity status, by sex, by age, and religion by occupation, by sex, by age, England and Wales combined. This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by ethnic group. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.
The religion people connect or identify with (their religious affiliation), whether or not they practise or have belief in it.
This question was voluntary and the variable includes people who answered the question, including “No religion”, alongside those who chose not to answer this question.
Total counts for some population groups may not match between published tables. This is to protect the confidentiality of individuals' data. Population counts have been rounded to the nearest 5 and any counts below 10 are suppressed, this is signified by a 'c' in the data tables.
This dataset shows population counts for usual residents aged between 16 to 64 years old only. This is to focus on religious affiliation differences among the working age. Population counts in these tables may be different from other publications which use different age breakdowns.
Quality notes can be found here
Quality information about Labour Market can be found here
The Standard Occupation Classification 2020 code used can be found here
Religion
The 8 ‘tickbox’ religious groups are as follows:
There were 3,866 hate crimes committed against Muslims in England and Wales, in the 2023/24 reporting year compared with 3,432 in the previous reporting year.
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
License information was derived automatically
The religion people connect or identify with (their religious affiliation), whether or not they practise or have belief in it. This question was voluntary and includes people who identified with one of eight tick-box response options, including "No religion", alongside those who chose not to answer this question.CoverageThis dataset is focused on the data for Birmingham at Ward level. Also available at LSOA, MSOA and Constituency levels.About the 2021 CensusThe Census takes place every 10 years and gives us a picture of all the people and households in England and Wales.Protecting personal dataThe ONS sometimes need to make changes to data if it is possible to identify individuals. This is known as statistical disclosure control. In Census 2021, they:
Swapped records (targeted record swapping), for example, if a household was likely to be identified in datasets because it has unusual characteristics, they swapped the record with a similar one from a nearby small area. Very unusual households could be swapped with one in a nearby local authority. Added small changes to some counts (cell key perturbation), for example, we might change a count of four to a three or a five. This might make small differences between tables depending on how the data are broken down when they applied perturbation.For more geographies, aggregations or topics see the link in the Reference below. Or, to create a custom dataset with multiple variables use the ONS Create a custom dataset tool.Population valueThe value column represents All usual residents.The percentage shown is the value as a percentage of All usual residents within the given geography.
http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licencehttp://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licence
Census 2021 data on religion by highest qualification level, by sex, by age, England and Wales combined. This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by ethnic group. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.
The religion people connect or identify with (their religious affiliation), whether or not they practise or have belief in it.
This question was voluntary and the variable includes people who answered the question, including “No religion”, alongside those who chose not to answer this question.
Total counts for some population groups may not match between published tables. This is to protect the confidentiality of individuals' data. Population counts have been rounded to the nearest 5 and any counts below 10 are suppressed, this is signified by a 'c' in the data tables.
This dataset shows population counts for usual residents aged 16 years and over. Some people aged 16 years old will not have completed key stage 4 yet on census day, and so did not have the opportunity to record any qualifications on the census.
These estimates are not comparable to Department of Education figures on highest level of attainment because they include qualifications obtained outside England and Wales.
Quality notes can be found here
Quality information about Education can be found here
Religion
The 8 ‘tickbox’ religious groups are as follows:
No qualifications
No qualifications
Level 1
Level 1 and entry level qualifications: 1 to 4 GCSEs grade A* to C , Any GCSEs at other grades, O levels or CSEs (any grades), 1 AS level, NVQ level 1, Foundation GNVQ, Basic or Essential Skills
Level 2
5 or more GCSEs (A* to C or 9 to 4), O levels (passes), CSEs (grade 1), School Certification, 1 A level, 2 to 3 AS levels, VCEs, Intermediate or Higher Diploma, Welsh Baccalaureate Intermediate Diploma, NVQ level 2, Intermediate GNVQ, City and Guilds Craft, BTEC First or General Diploma, RSA Diploma
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Level 3
2 or more A levels or VCEs, 4 or more AS levels, Higher School Certificate, Progression or Advanced Diploma, Welsh Baccalaureate Advance Diploma, NVQ level 3; Advanced GNVQ, City and Guilds Advanced Craft, ONC, OND, BTEC National, RSA Advanced Diploma
Level 4 +
Degree (BA, BSc), higher degree (MA, PhD, PGCE), NVQ level 4 to 5, HNC, HND, RSA Higher Diploma, BTEC Higher level, professional qualifications (for example, teaching, nursing, accountancy)
Other
Vocational or work-related qualifications, other qualifications achieved in England or Wales, qualifications achieved outside England or Wales (equivalent not stated or unknown)
http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licencehttp://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licence
Census 2021 data on religion by general health, by sex, by age; religion by disability, by sex, by age; and, religion by unpaid care, by sex, by age; England and Wales combined. This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by ethnic group. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.
The religion people connect or identify with (their religious affiliation), whether or not they practise or have belief in it.
This question was voluntary and the variable includes people who answered the question, including “No religion”, alongside those who chose not to answer this question.
Total counts for some population groups may not match between published tables. This is to protect the confidentiality of individuals' data. Population counts have been rounded to the nearest 5 and any counts below 10 are suppressed, this is signified by a 'c' in the data tables.
The population base for unpaid care is usual residents aged 5 years and above. We have used 5-year age bands for the majority of analysis; however, age groups "5 to 17" and "18 to 24" have been used to allow commentary on young carers and young working age carers.
Quality notes can be found here
Religion
The 8 ‘tickbox’ religious groups are as follows:
General health
A person's assessment of the general state of their health from very good to very bad. This assessment is not based on a person's health over any specified period of time.
Disability
The definition of disability used in the 2021 Census is aligned with the definition of disability under the Equality Act (2010). A person is considered disabled if they self-report having a physical or mental health condition or illness that has lasted or is expected to last 12 months or more, and that this reduces their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.
Unpaid care
An unpaid carer may look after, give help or support to anyone who has long-term physical or mental ill-health conditions, illness or problems related to old age. This does not include any activities as part of paid employment. This help can be within or outside of the carer's household.
Open Government Licence 3.0http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
License information was derived automatically
Vaccination rates and odds ratios by socio-demographic group among people living in England.
This statistic displays the number of mosques in the United Kingdom in 2017, by capacity. In this year there were 300 masjids in the United Kingdom with a capacity between 101 to 200 people. This was the most common size for a masjid in the United Kingdom. It was followed by 279 masjids with a capacity for between 201 and 300 people. In 2017 there were only ten masjids in the United Kingdom that had a capacity for over 4,000 people.
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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.