New census data reveals a complex emerging society increasingly at ease with itself. Not that you’d know it from our bitter public rows
Ten million people living in England and Wales were born abroad. Fewer than half of Britons call themselves Christians. For some, the two main takeaways from the 2021 census for England and Wales – a more diverse nation and a more secular one – provide something to celebrate. For others, “white decline” and the decline in Christian identity are developments to fear.
Only 46.2% of the population of England and Wales now describe themselves as “Christian”, down from 59.3% in 2011 and 72% a decade earlier. The main reason is a leap in the number describing themselves as being of “no religion” – more than a third of the population.
