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And the decline of Christianity fell from 40.2 million to 36.1 million with further declines expected.
Christianity is still the largest faith group in the UK by far, but more and more are moving away from the church and religious leaders need to do more to prevent further decline, according to the report.
The Casey Review published earlier this month shows that Islam is now the largest non-Christian religious population in the UK.
Meanwhile, a separate report published by Brierley Consultancy indicates that the membership of the British Church has grown from 10.6 million in 1930 to 5.5 million in 2010.
Britain’s first mosque, called the Shah Jahan Mosque, was built in Woking, England, in 1889 and there are now around 1,750 in the UK.
Meanwhile, Christianity in Britain is widely associated with Augustine’s mission in 597 AD, but it is believed to have arrived as early as the 1st century AD.
The Casey Review report states: “Religious leadership has so far not been strong enough to counter the vocal minority who discredit religion and influence the attitudes of people who increasingly view religion as a force. for evil.
“But there has been a significant shift in the nation’s religious landscape, with fewer identifying themselves as Christians, more people saying they have no religion, and more diverse and growing minority populations,” of which Muslims are the most important.
“This increase in the diversity of faiths and beliefs in the UK has increased the visibility of tensions between religious groups and the presence of more visible signs of religion, for example in the growth of mosques, and has led to anxiety increased – which has not been sufficiently recognized or discussed.
“We remain predominantly religious, with almost seven in ten of us belonging to one religion.
“Christians remain in the majority, while a quarter of the population has no religion. But the proportion of Christians rose from 70% to 59%, while the proportion without religion rose from 17% to 26%.
“The number of people belonging to other major religions has increased, with the exception of the Jewish population which has remained roughly the same size.
“Among faith groups, the number of people identifying as Muslim has increased most significantly, by 1.2 million people.
“This 72% increase is higher than for any other religious group and Muslims constitute the largest non-Christian religious population in the UK with 2.8 million in total, compared to 0.8 million Hindus, 0.4 million Sikhs, 0.3 million Jews and 0.3 million Buddhists. “
While the Brierley Consultancy report says, “The membership of the British Church has grown from 10.6 million in 1930 to 5.5 million in 2010, or as a percentage of the population; from about 30% to 11.2%.
“By 2013, that number had fallen further to 5.4 million (10.3 percent). If current trends continue, membership will drop to 8.4 percent of the population by 2025.
“In England, membership is expected to drop to 2.53 million (4.3% of the population) by 2025.”
However, the Church of England says it has launched a new initiative to encourage people to follow the faith.
A spokesperson said: “Christianity remains the largest religion in England with 31.5 million people, 59.4% of the population, identifying themselves as Christians.
“These results confirm that we remain a loyal nation. England remains a country where the majority of the nation actively identifies the role faith plays in their lives. Obviously, we welcome the fact that Christianity remains the most populous faith in England – with six in ten people identifying themselves as Christians. When all faiths are taken together, people of faith make up almost two-thirds of the nation – two in three people identify as having a faith.
“The work of the Church of England is not limited to those who declare Christian affiliation. As a Church, we continue to serve people of all faiths and none, in parishes, schools, community projects and through the 23.2 million hours of volunteer work that the faithful contribute to the local community. outside of their local church.
“In the past decade alone, the CofE has baptized an average of 2,500 people per week – with a 40% increase in adult baptisms – organized more than 100 weddings per week, celebrated the ordination of more than 5,000 new priests and maintained over 16,000 priests. parish church buildings. While 253 churches have closed over the past decade, 1,000 new congregations have been established through the Fresh Expressions initiative.
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