For those who Like Statistics

The results of the British Social Attitudes Survey on religious affiliation among adults in Great Britain have been published. Adults are people aged 18 and over. There is a wealth of material and analysis published, but here are the essentials: The number of adults who self identify as Catholics has declined from 4.1 million to 4.0 million between the years 1983 and 2014 (a decrease of around 2%). The equivalent figures for the Church of England are 16.5 million and 8.6 million (a decrease of 52%). This has taken place over a period of 30 years, when the overall adult population has increased from 41.3 million to 50.5 million. Other Christian denominations have shown a modest decline, whilst the number affiliating to non Christian religions has increased significantly. The biggest increase is in those who profess no religion, which almost exactly equates to the decline in the C of E.