Half of Scots ‘not religious’
Survey finds only 20% identify with Church of Scotland. 15% are Catholics, and 11% other Christians.
BBC · EDINBURGH · 04 APRIL 2016 · 15:59 CET
Findings from the Scottish Social Attitudes survey show 52% of people in Scotland say they are not religious, compared with 40% in 1999 when the survey began.
The number of Church of Scotland members has fallen from 35% in 1999 to just 20%.
Roman Catholics (15%) and other Christians (11%, members of free evangelical churches included) have remained steady.
The members of other non-Christian religions are only 2%.
MAJORITY DOES NOT ATTEND CHURCH SERVICES
Attendance at religious services is at the lowest level recorded since this survey began.
Two-thirds of people living in Scotland who say they are religious “never or practically never” attend services, compared with 49% when the survey began.
NOT EVEN 'DEFAULT' RELIGION
Ian Montagu, researcher at ScotCen, analysed: “Change doesn't appear to be affecting all religions equally. Affiliation with the Church of Scotland is in decline while levels of identification with other religions remain relatively unchanged.
"As fewer Scots are acknowledging even a default religious identity, it is affiliation with the national church that is the hardest hit."
The 2015 Scottish Social Attitudes survey interviewed a representative random probability sample of 1,288 people between July 2015 and January 2016.
See statistics of recent surveys about religion in Italy, Germany and Norway.
Published in: Evangelical Focus - europe - Half of Scots ‘not religious’