England and Wales no longer Christian ‘by default,’ census shows
Christianity is no longer the “default religion” in England and Wales. The latest census shows Christians there are now a minority, while the number of people who have no religious affiliation continues to grow.
Only 46.2% of residents, or 27.5 million people, described themselves as “Christian,” according to a Nov. 29 bulletin from the Office for National Statistics. This is down from 2011, when 59.3%, or 33.3 million, said they were Christian. In 2001, 71.7% described themselves as Christian.
The figures come from the 2021 census, which seeks to give the most accurate estimates of individuals and households. The census did not seek further details about respondents’ particular religious denomination.
About 37.2% of people in England and Wales, numbering 22.2 million, told the census they had “no religion.” This is an increase from 25.2% of the population in 2011 and from 14.8% in 2001.
“These figures don’t come as any real surprise,” Stephen Bullivant, a professor of theology and sociology of religion at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, told CNA Dec. 1. “In fact, the census figures put the number of Christians significantly higher than do many other, high-quality social surveys done in Britain.”
Bullivant has studied religious affiliation and disaffiliation in the U.K. and the U.S. He is the author of the 2022 book “Non-Verts: The Making of Ex-Christian America,” from Oxford University Press.
One key driver of change, he said, is that older generations more likely to identify as Christian have died, and young adults more likely to identify with no religion have taken their place.
“As ever, a lot of complex factors contribute to these big, headline figures,” Bullivant continued. “But probably the biggest factor is the gradual, generational evaporation of Christianity over a period of decades. It used to be the case that Anglicanism was the default setting for English and Welsh people, unless you had a particular reason to be something else. But we’ve long ago now — certainly for anyone born in the last few decades — shifted to a position where having ‘no religion’ is now the default, unless you have a particular reason to be something else.”
