LONDON: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released census data on Tuesday showing that the Muslim population in England and Wales had experienced fast growth since the last 10-year census was conducted in 2021.
Although less than half of the population in England and Wales identify as Christians, “no religion” was the second most frequent response after Christianity.
Muslim population in England is rapidly increasing
The decline of the Christian population over time, according to Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, was not “greatly surprising” in an age that is becoming more and more secular.
But he asserted that despite a problem in the cost of life and a war in Europe, people still required spiritual sustaining.
“In many circumstances, we will be there for them, giving them food and warmth. And millions of people will still attend our services throughout Christmas “the archbishop remarked.
The largest movement on Earth and its greatest promise for a peaceful, sustainable future, the global faith, is what we will be keeping in mind as we look beyond our immediate surroundings.
The UK census included a question about religion in 2001. It is still optional to respond, but the ONS reports that 94% of respondents did.
In England and Wales, 46.2% of the population, or 27.5 million individuals, identified as Christians, a drop of 13.1 percentage points from 2011.
Muslims increased from 4.9% to 3.9 million, or 6.5% of the population, while “no religion” increased by 12 points to 37.2%, or 22.2 million.
Hindus (one million) and Sikhs (524,000) were the next most frequent respondents, but Buddhists surpassed Jews in number (273,000 to 271,000).
The most recent significant census parts, which covered religion and ethnic identification, have been released piecemeal by the ONS.
Data are supplied separately for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
According to the study, the proportion of persons in England and Wales who identify as belonging to the white ethnic group has decreased by about 500,000 since 2011, from 86% to 81.7%.
The percentage of people who identified as white and from the British Isles was 74.4%, which was a six-point decrease from 2011.
In a decade where Britain continued to experience immigration from eastern Europe both before and after the Brexit referendum in 2016, the category of “other white” increased.
However, the ONS pointed out that respondents had more options to pick from than in 2011, which encouraged them to list additional identities.
At 9.3%, up from 7.5% a decade previously, “Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh” was the second most prevalent ethnic group after white.
The next largest ethnic group was the fast-growing African population, followed by Caribbean.
African evangelical churches have proliferated in London and elsewhere, providing some succour to the Christian share.
