Census 2021: Data shows number of Christians in England and Wales falls below half for first time

There has been a large fall in the number of people who consider themselves as Christian, dropping below half the population of England and Wales for the first time.

The Office for National Statistics has released it’s latest data taken from the 2021 Census, showing the changes since 2011.

Some 46.2% said they were Christian, down from 59.3% in 2011.

The data also shows:

• Number of people using Romanian as their main language rose from 0.1% to 0.8% (73,000 to 477,000) which is 2nd only to Polish in a list of languages other than English and Wales

• 37.2% said they had “no religion” up from 25.2%, but there were increases among those identifying as Muslim (4.9% to 6.5%) and Hindu (1.5% to 1.7%)

• Polish remains most common non-UK identity, Romanian was 2nd (from 16th), Indian remains 3rd, while Irish dropped to 4th (from 2nd). Other noticeable increases were among Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Lithuanian identities

• Of Londoners – the most ethnically diverse region of England – 36.8% identified as White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British – down from 44.9%

• 90.3% of the population selected at least one of these identities: British, English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, or Cornish, down slightly from 92%

• Increase in multi-ethnic households, from 8.7% to 10.1%

Religious reaction

Speaking about the changing statistics the Archbishop of York said the country has “left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian”.

The Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell said the Christian church would continue its work in the face of both “revival and decline”.

Meanwhile Andrew Copson chief executive of Humanists UK said: “These results confirm that the biggest demographic change in England and Wales of the last ten years has been the dramatic growth of the non-religious.

“They mean the UK is almost certainly one of the least religious countries on Earth.”