Yesterday I posted about the breakdown of the ‘other’ religion category in the 2021 Census. Much has rightly been made of the increase in no religion, and the diversity of what this category means. Also, of the decrease in those identifying as Christian. There are many questions that surround these developments- not least of which is ‘Is religion in decline, or are people more comfortable in identifying as non-religious?’ There are many reasons that could lie behind the statistics that are ripe for discussion, and indeed have played out in the media over the last day or so.

The differences between 2011 and 2021 have been noted at more notable statistics. Below is a breakdown I have put together that shows the differences in the 58 Categories that the ONS used. Alevi, Valmiki and Yazidi are groups who were not noted in 2011 and are new in this data set. Also of interest are the groups from 2011 who are not found in the 2021 data set: Non-religious: Heavy Metal (6242) and Non-religious: Jedi Knight (176,632).

This data is presented without comment but may be of interest:

Religion as stated	2021	2011	Difference
Christian	27522672	33243175	-5720503
Buddhist	272508	247,743	24,765
Hindu	1032775	816663	216,112
Jewish	271327	263346	7,981
Muslim	3868133	2706066	1,162,067
Sikh	524140	423158	100,982
Other religion: Alevi	25672		25,672
No religion: Agnostic	32114	32382	-268
No religion: Atheist	13848	29267	-15,419
No religion: Free Thinker	305	513	-208
No religion: Humanist	10246	15067	-4,821
No religion: No religion	22105473	13836778	8,268,695
No religion: Realist	76	348	-272
Other religion: Animism	802	541	261
Other religion: Baha’i	4716	5021	-305
Other religion: Believe in God	2414	2969	-555
Other religion: Brahma Kumari	235	442	-207
Other religion: Chinese Religion	112	182	-70
Other religion: Church of All Religion	24	408	-384
Other religion: Confucianist	76	124	-48
Other religion: Deist	1093	1199	-106
Other religion: Druid	2490	4189	-1,699
Other religion: Druze	626	515	111
Other religion: Eckankar	329	379	-50
Other religion: Heathen	4721	1958	2,763
Other religion: Jain	24991	20288	4,703
Other religion: Mixed Religion	11402	23566	-12,164
Other religion: Mysticism	145	204	-59
Other religion: Native American Church	82	127	-45
Other religion: New Age	397	698	-301
Other religion: Occult	490	502	-12
Other religion: Other religions	66016	13813	52,203
Other religion: Own Belief System	2199	1949	250
Other religion: Pagan	73733	56620	17,113
Other religion: Pantheism	2299	2216	83
Other religion: Rastafarian	5948	7906	-1,958
Other religion: Ravidassia	9572	11058	-1,486
Other religion: Reconstructionist	742	251	491
Other religion: Satanism	5054	1893	3,161
Other religion: Scientology	1859	2418	-559
Other religion: Shamanism	7889	650	7,239
Other religion: Shintoism	1375	1075	300
Other religion: Spiritual	31611	13832	17,779
Other religion: Spiritualist	33134	39061	-5,927
Other religion: Taoist	3724	4144	-420
Other religion: Theism	860	830	30
Other religion: Thelemite	227	184	43
Other religion: Traditional African Religion	661	588	73
Other religion: Unification Church	202	452	-250
Other religion: Universalist	764	923	-159
Other religion: Valmiki	1034		1,034
Other religion: Vodun	257	208	49
Other religion: Wicca	12813	11766	1,047
Other religion: Witchcraft	1045	1276	-231
Other religion: Yazidi	413		413
Other religion: Zoroastrian	4090	4105	-15
Religion not stated	3595589	4038032	-442,443