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Written by Adam McIlroy.
14 minute read
Over the last few years, there have been a couple of high-profile studies charting the decline of religion in the UK, namely by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Policy Institute of King’s College London (KCL). This decline is one of the factors explaining a decreased preference in the UK for traditional funerals, and a pivot towards modern, personalised alternatives to tradition, by arranging a low-cost funeral. This shift has had a clear impact on British funeral traditions, influencing how people choose to mark death, remembrance, and celebration of life today.
In this article, we want to discuss some of the findings of these studies, asking, among other things, why Christianity is declining in the UK, and what this means for British funeral habits.
Key takeaways:
The picture of religion in the UK has changed considerably over recent decades. Christianity remains the country’s largest religion, but the percentage of Christians in the UK has fallen, while the number of people identifying with no religion has grown.
It’s certainly true to say that British Christianity is on the decline, but the picture is a little more complex for religion generally. The recent study by the ONS shows that, for the first time since the collection of census data began, Christians in the UK are no longer in the majority. The biggest demographic increase was seen in those identifying as ‘atheist’ or in having no religion. As far as other religions are concerned, the numbers of both British muslims and Hindus have increased since the last survey in 2011.
The latest census figures show how significantly religion in the UK has changed. According to the 2021 Census for England and Wales, Christianity remains the biggest religion, but the proportion identifying as Christian fell to 46.2%, down from 59.3% in 2011. This was the first time the figure had fallen below half of the population.
At the same time, 37.2% of people selected “no religion”, up from 25.2% in 2011. Islam was the second-largest religion, with 6.5% of people identifying as Muslim, while Hinduism accounted for 1.7%.
These UK religion demographics show that Britain is becoming less Christian and more religiously diverse, while the proportion of people with no religion is growing.
There isn’t one simple percentage because identifying with a religion and personally believing in God are different measures. Census data records religious affiliation, while surveys can tell us more about personal belief.
The King’s College London study of changing attitudes to religion found that 49% of people in Britain said they believed in God in 2022, compared with 75% in 1981. So, when asking how religious the UK is, the answer depends on whether you mean religious identity, belief or religious practice.
Britain’s religious population hasn’t declined overnight. There are a number of important moments and developments in recent history that have gradually shaped our current attitude.
In the years following the end of the Second World War, much of the world famously went through a demographic change. The ‘baby boomers’ (those born between 1946 and 1964) lived through the cultural revolution of the swinging 60s, and many came of age in those years. In the course of this, they left behind the stauncher religious faith of their parents who’d survived and fought in the war. When they themselves came to have children, they tended not to pass down any religious faith they may have still had.
The children of the baby boomers were more likely to be raised without any specific focus on religion, given that their parents had lived in a different way. The passing down of faith from parent to child turned out to be a crucial element of religion’s ability to remain relevant; without this social habit, Christianity in the UK has witnessed a steep decline. The comparative increase in the numbers of British Muslims and Hindus shows that the habit of children adopting their parents’ religion is still alive and well in those communities.
Beyond the social impact of the 1960s, the popularisation of the internet in the 1990s and social media in the following decades has given everyone access to limitless information. These technologies have provided people with the ability to ask and answer questions like never before, pushing more and more of us from the starting point of a religious world view.
While the number of British people identifying as Christian in the UK has declined, the overall picture is more complex. Interestingly, in the recent studies, a lack of belief in god was not necessarily found to guarantee a lack of belief in the afterlife.
Another interesting take-away from the studies is that religious belief across the generations in the UK is not as simple as we might think. Whilst the decline in Christianity is partly explained by the deaths of older Christians combined with a lack of young believers, the KCL study found that the percentage of millennials believing in god has increased. Similarly, the number of generation Xers believing in God has not declined in the same way as the pre-war generation and the baby boomers, remaining more or less constant through the years. Generation Z has the lowest levels of religious belief, at only 37% of the demographic.
From closing churches to dwindling congregations, it’s undeniable that, in some ways, Christianity in the UK is declining.
Around 3500 churches in the UK have closed since 2013, according to the Guardian, and the Church of Scotland is considering closing up to 40% of its churches. These are clear signs that the religion’s relevance is diminishing in Britain.
Despite this, Britain is still ‘literally’ a Christian country, in the sense that the Head of State (King Charles) is also ‘Defender of the Faith’ and head of the Church of England. Bishops can sit, unelected, in the House of Lords. There is no separation of Church and State as is usually found in countries with more modern constitutions, like France and the US. The only other country in the world besides the UK where unelected religious figures can sit in the legislature is Iran.
Despite its decline, Christianity may still have a large amount of cultural and constitutional significance in the UK.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact on attendances at church in the UK. All churches were ordered to close during the first and second lockdowns, forcing worship away from churches themselves and into people’s homes or online. Attendance hasn’t bounced back to the pre-Covid level, with many of the same pressures inflicted upon the working world now also impacting the Church.
Aside from Covid, there have been technological developments and changes in social attitudes that have contributed to the decline of religious belief in the UK.
Many younger people view the moral positions of the church as out of step with their own world view.
It used to be the case that many people would go to church out of a sense of social obligation or respect for one’s parents, even whilst lacking a belief in its teachings. With the passing of the years, people seem to feel less bound by these obligations and more able to live a non-religious life without a sense of guilt or shame.
Britain is now much less racially and culturally homogeneous than it was in the years immediately following the war. With the arrival of more and more people from further afield than Europe, different faiths have found a foothold in British culture. By adding variety into the religious preferences of British people, the dominance of Christianity has partially faded for this reason.
The decline of religion in British society has led to some big cultural changes, including in our funeral practices.
British people are now much less likely to want a religious element in life’s milestones such as weddings or funerals. According to a 2020 ONS study on marriage in England and Wales, only 15% of marriages were religious, meaning the vast majority were civil. The Funeral Guide conducted its own study into funeral habits, and it found that the percentage of funerals which were religious in 2023 was only 17%.
If fewer and fewer people are religious in the UK in their day-to-day lives, it naturally follows that there is less desire for a religious element in life’s most important moments. Many non-religious people in the past may have felt obliged for reasons that they couldn’t explain to have a religious funeral, or at least to have a funeral with a traditional format complete with all of the formal extras, such as pallbearers, a hearse, and a funeral procession with limousines.
To be clear, regardless of whether or not a funeral is religious, it’s still bound to be a profoundly sad occasion. But we are now awakening to the many possibilities of having a non-religious funeral. When we are released from the obligations of traditions we may not hold ourselves, our funeral can be anything we want it to be — whether that means a simple direct cremation, a personalised celebration of life, or even a DIY funeral organised by family and friends. The dress code; words, music, location, and funeral method (e.g., burial or cremation); the presence or not of attendees; and whether the ashes are used creatively afterwards, are all factors which we can personalise to resemble who we were in life, and to tell our story as it was.
Aura offers a low-cost, modern alternative to the traditional funeral through our top-rated direct cremation services. These services are available to those requiring our assistance at short notice, and we provide prepaid funeral plans for those looking to the future. The idea of a direct cremation is that it takes care of the practical matters of the funeral with minimal cost and admin hassle, thereby freeing up the family to arrange any kind of end-of-life celebration they like later on.
Without the focus of the Church in their lives, many people have lost a powerful sense of community. Whether or not you believe in a god, a religious institution like a church is a potent social hub that can help local people to make connections with one another. The decline in church attendance across the UK has coincided with the rise of social media and of online culture; two phenomena that feed off one another, potentially making us more lonely than ever.
There has been considerable debate about whether Christianity is experiencing a revival among younger people in Britain. In 2025, the Bible Society’s Quiet Revival report attracted attention after YouGov polling appeared to show church attendance rising, particularly among Gen Z. The survey suggested monthly church attendance among 18 to 24-year-olds had risen from 4% in 2018 to 16% in 2024.
However, that evidence has since been withdrawn. In March 2026, YouGov said the 2024 survey contained fraudulent responses and that important quality controls had not been activated. The Bible Society subsequently withdrew the Quiet Revival report because its findings could no longer be considered reliable.
More recent evidence from the British Social Attitudes survey, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), points in the opposite direction. Its latest data found that only 4% of people under 35 attend a Christian service at least once a week, broadly in line with the 3% to 5% recorded since 2017. Among under-35s, 25% identify as Christian, compared with 33% of 35 to 54-year-olds and 52% of those aged 55 and over.
So, is Gen Z bringing back Christianity? Based on the strongest available evidence, there isn’t currently clear evidence of a widespread Gen Z Christian revival in Britain. Some churches and individual communities may be attracting more young people, and younger Christians can be highly engaged with their faith, but this hasn’t translated into a national reversal of the longer-term decline in Christian identification and church attendance.
Yes. According to recent studies by the Office for National Statistics and King’s College London, less than half the population now identifies as Christian. At the same time, the number of people identifying as having no religion has grown significantly.
The shift began after the Second World War, particularly with the cultural revolution of the 1960s. Many baby boomers moved away from the religious practices of their parents, and this trend continued as they raised their own children without passing down strong religious beliefs.
Factors include generational change, greater access to information through the internet and social media, the rise of secular values, and changing attitudes toward religion’s role in society. Some also view traditional religious views as out of step with modern thinking.
Christianity has experienced the largest decline among major religious affiliations in recent British census data. In England and Wales, the Christian population fell from 33.3 million in 2011 to 27.5 million in 2021. Scotland has seen a similar pattern, particularly for the Church of Scotland.
Not entirely. While Christianity is declining, other religions such as Islam and Hinduism have seen growth in the UK population, largely due to immigration and stronger patterns of passing faith from parents to children in those communities.
Fewer people are choosing religious funerals. In 2023, only 17% of funerals were religious. Many now prefer non-religious or personalised ceremonies, often opting for modern alternatives like direct cremation.
Thousands of churches have closed in the UK since 2013, and attendance has not returned to pre-Covid levels. Although Christianity still has cultural and constitutional influence, actual participation in church life has dropped significantly.
Current evidence does not show a widespread Gen Z Christian revival in Britain. The latest British Social Attitudes data found that only 4% of people under 35 attend a Christian service weekly, broadly in line with recent years rather than showing a clear increase.