Church of England decline accelerates, while other faiths grow

Decline in the Church of England has accelerated, according to a new survey. Other faiths, however, are growing in Britain, especially Islam.

The British Social Attitudes survey of nearly 3,000 people found that they proportion of people saying they are Anglican has fallen by by two fifths in 10 years, part of an overall picture of decline going back more than 30 years, according to the survey, by NatCen Social Research.

The proportion of British adults who said they are Anglican has fallen from 40 per cent in 1983 to 17 per cent in 2014. However the decline was steepest over the past decade when the proportion fell by two fifths in ten years, down from 29 per cent of the population in 2004.

In real terms, says NatCen, this suggests the number of Anglicans in Britain has fallen by as many as 4.5 million over the last ten years from around 13 million people to about 8.5 million today. Keep reading

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C of E crisis as it loses 1.7m followers - and Islam gains 900,000: Former Archbishop Lord Carey warns: 'Church is a generation from extinction'

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