There has been a huge fall in the number of people who consider themselves Christian, below half the population of England and Wales for the first time.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest figures from the 2021 census, showing changes since 2011.
46.2% said they were Christian, down from 59.3% in 2011.
ONS data: main points:
• The number of people using Romanian as their main language increased from 0.1% to 0.8% (from 68,000 to 472,000), which is second only to Polish in a list of languages other than English and Welsh.
• 37.2% said they had “no religion” compared to 25.2%, but there were increases among those who identify as Muslim (from 4.9% to 6.5%) and those Hindus (from 1.5% to 1.7%).
• Polish remains the most common identity outside the UK, Romanian came second (up from 16th), Indian remains third, while Irish dropped to 4th (from 2nd) .
• Of Londoners, England’s most ethnically diverse region, 36.8% identify 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, slightly less than 92%
• Increase in multi-ethnic households, from 8.7% to 10.1%
Religious reaction
Speaking about the statistics, the Archbishop of York said the country “has left behind the days when many people almost automatically identified as Christians”.
Reverend Stephen Cottrell said the Christian church would continue its work in the face of both “revival and decline”.
Andrew Copson, chief executive of Humanists UK, said: “These results confirm that the biggest demographic change in England and Wales over the last 10 years has been the dramatic growth of the non-religious.”
Meanwhile, the chief executive of the National Secular Society, Stephen Evans, said: “It’s official: we are no longer a Christian country.”
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Polish identity is the best ranked outside the UK
The percentage of the population who described themselves as having a non-British identity rose to 9.7%, compared to 8% in 2011.
Polish stayed on top with Romanian 2nd, up from 16th in 2011 (73,000 to 477,000).
India took 3rd place and Irish 4th.
Other notable increases were among Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Lithuanian identities.
Recent ONS statistics showed that one in six people living in England and Wales was born outside the UK.
These figures also revealed that, in a decade, there was a 576% increase in the number of people who had listed Romania as their country of birth.