SafekipediaReligion in the European Union
Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience
The European Union has many different religions and beliefs. The largest group is Christian, making up over 70% of the population. Other groups include those who follow Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and some East Asian religions. There are also people who practice older European folk religions like Heathenism, Rodnovery, Romuva, and Druidry.
Over the past few decades, fewer people in the EU have been practicing religion. Some countries, like France and the Czech Republic, have many people who do not believe in any god or spirit. On the other hand, countries like Poland and Malta still have most people who believe in religion.
Belief in religion changes with age, gender, education, and political views. Older people, women, those with less education, and people with right-wing political views are more likely to believe in religion. This diversity makes the EU a place where many different beliefs and values come together.
Church and state
The European Union is a secular organization, meaning it does not favor any particular religion. There are no official ties to any religion in EU treaties. Some leaders, including the Pope, have suggested mentioning Christianity or God in important documents, but this has faced opposition from people who prefer a secular approach. As a result, the EU refers to its "Religious and Humanist inheritance."
Only a few countries in the EU, such as Denmark, Greece, and Malta, have an official state religion. The Vatican has spoken out against what it sees as a strong secular direction in the EU, pointing to events like the rejection of religious references in treaties and changes in laws regarding marriage and human rights. The EU works with leaders from many different religions and also includes groups that do not follow any religion.
Secularisation
Atheism and agnosticism have become more common in Europe, with fewer people attending church or joining religious groups. Some countries with the fewest people who say they have no religion include France, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and the Netherlands. However, places like Romania, Greece, and Malta still have many people who believe in religion.
Recent surveys show that fewer people in Europe believe in God compared to years past. For example, Romania saw a big drop from 92% of people believing in 2010 to just 64% in 2018. Similar declines happened in Greece, Poland, Italy, and Portugal. This trend is happening across all EU countries. In 2012, a large number of babies were born to parents who were not married, especially in countries like Estonia, Bulgaria, and France. These countries also tend to have fewer people who follow a religion.
Religiousness
Most countries in the European Union have seen fewer people going to church or saying they believe in a god. A survey in 2010 found that about half of people in EU countries said they believe in a god, while about a quarter said they believe in some kind of spirit or life force. About one in five said they did not believe in any god or spirit.
The amount of belief changes a lot between different countries. Some places in Western Europe, like the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, have much lower numbers of people who go to church or say they believe in a god. Even in places like Poland, where more people still go to church, the numbers have been going down in recent years.
| Country | "I believe there is a God" | "I believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" | "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force" | "Declined to answer" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Malta | 94% | 4% | 2% | 0% |
 Romania | 92% | 7% | 1% | 0% |
 Cyprus | 88% | 8% | 3% | 1% |
 Greece | 79% | 16% | 4% | 1% |
 Poland | 79% | 14% | 5% | 2% |
 Italy | 74% | 20% | 6% | 0% |
 Ireland | 70% | 20% | 7% | 3% |
 Portugal | 70% | 15% | 12% | 3% |
 Croatia | 69% | 22% | 7% | 2% |
 Slovakia | 63% | 23% | 13% | 1% |
 Spain | 59% | 20% | 19% | 2% |
 Lithuania | 47% | 37% | 12% | 4% |
 Luxembourg | 46% | 22% | 24% | 8% |
 Hungary | 45% | 34% | 20% | 1% |
 Austria | 44% | 38% | 12% | 6% |
 Germany | 44% | 25% | 27% | 4% |
 Latvia | 38% | 48% | 11% | 3% |
 United Kingdom | 37% | 33% | 25% | 5% |
 Belgium | 37% | 31% | 27% | 5% |
 Bulgaria | 36% | 43% | 15% | 6% |
 Finland | 33% | 42% | 22% | 3% |
 Slovenia | 32% | 36% | 26% | 6% |
 Denmark | 28% | 47% | 24% | 1% |
 Netherlands | 28% | 39% | 30% | 3% |
 France | 27% | 27% | 40% | 6% |
 Estonia | 18% | 50% | 29% | 3% |
 Sweden | 18% | 45% | 34% | 3% |
 Czech Republic | 16% | 44% | 37% | 3% |
 EU28 | 51% | 26% | 20% | 3% |
Religious affiliation
Modern Paganism and Ethnic Religions
The European Union has many different types of religions. The biggest one is Christianity, which most people follow. There are also smaller groups like Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and Hinduism.
In addition to these, some people in Europe follow Modern Paganism. This includes groups that try to bring back old traditions from before Christianity. These groups are often called ethnic religions or Native Faiths. They see these traditions as important parts of their cultural history.
These Pagan groups work together through something called the European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER). They talk to important EU groups, like the European Parliament, to make sure their traditions are respected and treated the same as other religions.
Different countries in Europe have different numbers of people who follow these Pagan traditions. For example, in the United Kingdom, about 74,000 people say they are Pagans. In Iceland, over 5,000 people, which is about 1.4% of the population, follow a tradition called Ásatrúarfélagið. In Denmark and Sweden, groups like Forn Siðr and Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige are recognized by the government and can perform marriages.
In Central and Eastern Europe, many people are interested in reviving Baltic and Slavic traditions. In Lithuania, more than 5,000 people follow the Old Baltic Faith called Romuva. Similar groups exist in Latvia and Poland.
In Southern Europe, especially in Greece, people follow the Hellenic Ethnic Religion, which was officially recognized in 2017. In Italy, there are also groups that follow Roman Traditionalism, known as Religio Romana.
| Region | Catholic | Orthodox | Protestant | Other Christian | Total Christians | Non-Believer / Agnostic | Atheist | Muslim |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 66.5% | 2.2% | 7.2% | 1.9% | 77.8% | 15.4% | 4.1% | 1.5% |
| Belgium | 52.9% | 1.6% | 2.1% | 4.1% | 60.7% | 17.1% | 14.9% | 5.2% |
| Bulgaria | 1.6% | 83.3% | 0.1% | 0.8% | 85.8% | 3.3% | 2.3% | 7.7% |
| Cyprus | 1.3% | 96.3% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 98.4% | 1.1% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| Croatia | 84.2% | 2.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 86.7% | 6.6% | 3.6% | 1.3% |
| Czech Republic | 27.1% | 0.2% | 1.0% | 3.2% | 31.5% | 38.6% | 25.8% | 0.0% |
| Denmark | 1.2% | 2.2% | 60.0% | 8.8% | 72.2% | 12.5% | 13.2% | 0.8% |
| Estonia | 2.8% | 23.2% | 9.0% | 23.6% | 58.6% | 16.6% | 22.2% | 0.2% |
| Finland | 0.1% | 2.0% | 69.7% | 7.4% | 79.2% | 12.7% | 6.5% | 0.5% |
| France | 47.8% | 0.6% | 1.8% | 4.1% | 54.3% | 17.6% | 22.8% | 3.3% |
| Western Germany | 37.1% | 0.6% | 36.5% | 7.2% | 81.4% | 6.7% | 7.4% | 2.8% |
| Eastern Germany | 7.1% | 2.1% | 19.2% | 8.8% | 37.2% | 27.0% | 34.1% | 0.0% |
| Total Germany | 31.1% | 0.9% | 33.1% | 7.5% | 72.6% | 10.7% | 12.8% | 2.2% |
| Greece | 0.4% | 92.9% | 0.1% | 1.0% | 94.4% | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1.2% |
| Hungary | 60.3% | 1.1% | 5.1% | 8.1% | 74.6% | 18.5% | 2.7% | 0.3% |
| Ireland | 80.7% | 0.7% | 1.8% | 4.3% | 87.5% | 5.8% | 4.6% | 0.8% |
| Italy | 77.8% | 4.9% | 0.6% | 1.3% | 84.6% | 8.1% | 4.3% | 0.1% |
| Latvia | 26.2% | 24.0% | 16.6% | 9.9% | 76.7% | 17.3% | 4.7% | 1.2% |
| Lithuania | 87.7% | 3.6% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 92.7% | 4.2% | 2.6% | 0.0% |
| Luxembourg | 64.8% | 3.5% | 3.6% | 0.7% | 69.8% | 11.2% | 10.3% | 2.1% |
| Malta | 95.0% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 95.9% | 1.1% | 3.0% | 0.0% |
| Netherlands | 21.9% | 1.9% | 17.8% | 6.2% | 47.8% | 39.6% | 9.2% | 1.4% |
| Poland | 90.7% | 0.2% | 1.0% | 0.4% | 92.3% | 2.2% | 3.6% | 0.2% |
| Portugal | 85.8% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 1.6% | 88.7% | 8.2% | 2.3% | 0.1% |
| Romania | 5.3% | 89.9% | 3.4% | 1.0% | 99.6% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Slovakia | 73.1% | 2.2% | 6.2% | 2.2% | 83.7% | 5.0% | 7.4% | 0.0% |
| Slovenia | 66.6% | 0.9% | 1.5% | 0.2% | 69.2% | 6.6% | 16.5% | 2.7% |
| Spain | 64.2% | 1.4% | 0.8% | 2.2% | 68.6% | 17.0% | 10.9% | 0.6% |
| Sweden | 1.6% | 0.9% | 36.5% | 8.6% | 47.6% | 31.0% | 19.0% | 1.2% |
| Great Britain | 12.7% | 9.6% | 14.7% | 19.2% | 56.2% | 20.6% | 11.8% | 4.7% |
| Northern Ireland | 33.3% | 1.3% | 14.7% | 42.4% | 91.7% | 7.6% | 2.4% | 0.7% |
| EU28 | 45.3% | 9.6% | 11.1% | 5.6% | 71.6% | 13.6% | 10.4% | 1.8% |
Diversity
The European Union has many different religions. The largest group is Christian, followed by smaller groups such as Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and some East Asian religions. France and Germany have the largest Muslim populations in western Europe.
Judaism has a long history in Europe, dating back to the Roman Empire. Sadly, many Jews faced terrible harm during history. Today, there are still Jewish communities in places like France and the United Kingdom.
In the 1960s and 1970s, many Hindus moved to Europe from places like India and East Africa. The Netherlands, especially, welcomed many Hindus. Some came from Suriname, a former Dutch colony, and others came later because of conflicts in places like Sri Lanka. Today, there are over 450,000 Hindus living in the European Union.
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