Constituency data: Religion, 2021 census

The 2021 census asked people about their religion. This was a voluntary question, answered by around 94% of respondents.

A person’s religion is self-defined regardless of whether they practise their religion or not.

The census question on religion included eight tick-boxes for different religions. Respondents could also choose to write in a different religion if theirs wasn’t included among the options.

Across England and Wales, 46% of people identified as being Christian, 37% said they had no religion, 6% identified as Muslim, and 2% identified as Hindu. Around 2% identified as being Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish or of another religion.

The dashboard below shows the results for constituencies in England and Wales. The data reflects the population on Census Day, 21 March 2021.

The figures in the dashboard are provisional estimates created by the Commons Library (see notes, below).

Single constituency

• Find which constituency you live in

Use the dropdown menu below to select the constituency you’re interested in and view statistics on the population by religion.

If you would like to access this information in an alternative format please email papers@parliament.uk and we will review your request.

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Download all data in Excel (4.6 MB)

Top 20 constituencies by religion

In the dashboard below, you can see which constituencies have the largest populations identifying with each religion.

In general, the highest proportion of those identifying as Christian were in constituencies in the North West of England (19 constituencies) particularly around Merseyside. Of those who recorded no religion, 10 of the top 20 constituencies were in Wales.

Of those who identified as being Muslim, nine of the constituencies to feature in the top 20 were either in London or Birmingham. For those identifying as Hindu, 18 of the constituencies to feature in the top 20 were in either London or the East Midlands, of which 14 were in London.

Of those who did not answer the religion question in the census, 14 of the top 20 constituencies with the highest proportions not to do so were in London.

If you would like to access this information in an alternative format please email papers@parliament.uk and we will review your request.

Open a printable version

Download all data in Excel (4.6 MB)

Notes

These figures are provisional estimates created by the Commons Library, which means they are subject to some uncertainty. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will release final figures for constituencies in 2023 and we will update this dashboard when they become available.

We have constructed these estimates by adding together ONS data for small geographical areas called Output Areas (OAs). The ONS adjusts the OA figures slightly to protect people’s privacy, so the constituency totals we’ve created aren’t completely accurate. The OAs also don’t precisely match the constituency boundaries, although they are a close approximation.

Sources

ONS, 2021 Census, Table TS030; Commons Library calculations

ONS, Census 2021 paper questionnaires

Data updates

The 2021 census is currently the only source of constituency-level data on this topic, which means that there aren’t any updates planned for the near future.