Membership development in the religious communities

The membership development in the religious communities reflects the course of the change in the number of members in religious communities . In Germany , Austria , Switzerland , the Netherlands and the United Kingdom , there has been a decline in the number of members of the two major denominations (Protestant and Catholic churches) since the 1970s at the latest . In the United States , membership has also been falling since the turn of the millennium. Worldwide, however, the membership of most world religions is increasing . The decline in the number of members of the two major denominations almost exclusively strengthens the group of people who are “non-denominational”, that is, people who are not religiously organized.

developments

Germany

→ Main article : Religions in Germany

Distribution of denominations in the Federal Republic of Germany, 2008
blue: Catholic,
red: Protestant,
white: without denomination or belonging to other churches and religious communities.

The religious affiliation in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany before reunification remained largely constant between 1871 and 1970. In 1951, 96.4 percent of the population in West Germany still belonged to a Christian denomination. The confessional structure of the Federal Republic of Germany changed considerably with the accession of the former GDR . While the proportion of Christians in East Germany in 1949 was around 92 percent, by 1988 this had fallen to almost 40 percent due to the general atheist orientation of the GDR. Between 1990 and 2013 the number of Catholics in Germany as a whole fell by 16.1 percent and that of Protestants by 22.6 percent.

In 1990, the Roman Catholic Church in Germany had over 28.5 million members, around 35.4 percent of the population. More than 20 years later, 24.2 million people were Catholic, or 29.9 percent of the population. In the years 1990-2013 3.2 million people left the Catholic Church. About 0.25 million entered the Church during the same period. The number of members of the Evangelical Church in Germany , which in 1990 with 29.4 million members still belonged to 36.9 percent of the population, has developed similarly. Between 1990 and 2013, 4.5 million people left the Evangelical Church. Around 1 million people joined the EKD during the same period.

In 1991, 299,504 Catholic and 322,142 Protestant baptisms were performed, with 178,000 Protestant baptisms in 2014 and 169,599 Catholic baptisms in 2011 almost halved. Around 2015, around 25 percent of all children were accepted into the Catholic or Protestant church through baptism, while up to the 1960s there were around 45 Catholic and 45 Protestant baptisms for every 100 births.

In summary, around 53 percent of the German population belonged to one of the two major denominations and around 3 percent belonged to the Orthodox churches or smaller denominations. Another 5 to 6.5 percent are followers of a non-Christian religion such as Islam . According to a study by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, between 4.4 and 4.7 million Muslims lived in Germany at the end of 2015, while the Weltanschauung research group in Germany estimates the number of Muslims to be lower at around 3.6 million.

All other religious communities together make up just under 1% of the population in Germany, including 270,000 Buddhists , 200,000 Jews , 100,000 of them organized in communities, 100,000 Hindus , 100,000 Yazidis , 10,000 to 20,000 Sikhs and 6,000 to 12,000 Baha'i .

The remaining 37-38 percent of the population is non-denominational . In 1970, 3.9 percent of the population in West Germany and West Berlin were non-denominational, but this group has grown steadily since then. The reasons include demographic change (for example due to immigration , emigration and changes in the birth rates and the age structure of society) as well as leaving the church . However, this has hardly any effect on the associated non-denominational associations, so in 2013 only around 35,000 members were organized in the umbrella organization of free ideological communities.

For a long time the large churches did not project church membership numbers. In 2019, a research project at the University of Freiburg created the first coordinated advance calculation of membership and church tax for the Protestant and Catholic Church in Germany. Here a decline in membership numbers of the two large churches of almost 50% by the year 2060 was forecast. Overall, there should be a decrease to 22.7 instead of 44.8 million Christians.

1950 to 1989

Overview: largest religious communities in West Germany including West Berlin
year	Total population	Others (predominantly non-denominational as well as other Christians with 1.2 million and other religions with 0.8 million members) [calculated]	Share in% [Difference to 100% of the total of other shares]	Roman Catholic Church	Share in%	Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)	Share in%	Islam (Estimates)	Share in%	Orthodox churches	Share in%
1950	49,843,000	1,794,000	3.6	22,828,000	45.8	25,220,000	50.6
1961	56,175,000	1,966,000	3.5	25,560,000	45.5	28,705,000	51.1
1970	60,651,000	2,365,000	3.9	27,061,000	44.6	29,696,000	49.0	788,000	1.3
1980	61,658,000			26,710,000	43.3	26,104,000	42.3
1987	61,077,000	6,963,000	11.4	26,232,000	42.9	25,412,000	41.6	1,649,000	2.7

Since 1990

Overview: largest religious communities in Germany after reunification
year	Total population	Other (predominantly non-denominational as well as other Christians with 1.1 million and other religions with 0.9 million members) [calculated]	Share in% [Difference to 100% of the total of other shares]	Roman Catholic Church	Share in%	Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)	Share in%	Islam (Estimates)	Share in%	Orthodox churches	Share in%
1990	79,753,000	17,865,000	22.4	28,525,000	35.4	29,422,000	36.9	2,951,000	3.7
1991	80,275,000			28,252,000	35.4	29,204,000	36.4
2001	82,440,000			26,288,000	31.9	26,454,000	32.1
2006	82,315,000			25,317,000	30.8	25,101,000	30.5			1,200,000	1.5
2011	80,328,000			24,473,000	30.5	23,620,000	29.4			1,268,500	1.6
2012	80,524,000	26,500,000	32.9	24,321,000	30.2	23,356,000	29.0	3,140,000	3.9	1,268,500	1.6
2013	80,767,000	26,700,000	33.0	24,171,000	29.9	23,040,000	28.5	3,394,000	4.2	1,346,000	1.7
2014	81,198,000			23,939,000	29.5	22,629,000	27.9			1,661,000	2.0
2015	82,176,000	29,610,000	36.0	23,762,000	28.9	22,272,000	27.1	3,600,000	4.4	1,562,750	1.9
2016	82,522,000	30,946,000	37.5	23,582,000	28.6	21,923,000	26.6	4,535,000	5.5	1,537,000	1.8
2017	82,792,000	31,767,000	38.4	23,311,000	28.2	21,536,000	26.0	4,636,000	5.6	1,539,000	1.9
2018	83,019,000	33,108,000	39.9	23,002,000	27.7	21,141,000	25.5	4,255,000	5.1	1,543,000	1.9
2019	83,166,000			22,600,000	27.2	20,713,000	24.9

Austria

→ Main article : Recognized religious communities in Austria

As in Germany, the number of members of the two large Christian churches in Austria has been declining since the 1970s, while the number of non-denominationalists, but also those of other religious groups such as Muslims and Orthodox Christians, has increased since then.

The Roman Catholic Church in Austria had 6.17 million members or 89.0 percent of the population at the end of 1951; according to the results of the last census from 2001, 73.6 percent of the population still supported the Roman Catholic Church. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of members decreased by a further 511,699 people, with the result that the Catholic Church lost around 9.1% of its members in a decade - in 2010, 85,960 church resignations were registered. At the end of 2019, the Catholic Church with its 4,984,633 members represented 56.0 percent of the total Austrian population and thus, as the largest recognized religious community, an absolute majority in Austria.

The Evangelical Church A. u. HB in Austria had a total of 429,493 members or 6.19 percent of the population at the end of 1951. According to the 2001 census, 4.68 percent of the population still belonged to one of the Protestant churches (mostly Augsburg Confession , less often Helvetic Confession ). At the end of 2019 there were still 283,628 members or 3.19 percent of the total Austrian population. Relatively, the decline was greater among the smaller Protestant churches; they have lost around 36.6 percent of their members since their maximum level in 1971, compared to the roughly 23.9 percent loss in the Roman Catholic Church in the same period.

In the 2001 census, around 180,000 Christians, or 2.2 percent of the Austrian population, declared themselves to be members of Orthodox churches . According to their own information, their current membership is around 450,000, which would correspond to a current share of the population of around 5.2 percent. For the Old Catholic Church , about 15,000 known believers, or about 0.2 percent of the then population. A little more than 8,000 people declared themselves to be members of the Israelite religious community , as well as a total of 338,988 people and thus 4.2 percent to Islam .

At the beginning of 2017, according to estimates by the Ministry of the Interior and the Austrian Integration Fund, around 700,000 Muslims lived in Austria. The number rose sharply, mainly due to migrants, births and refugees from the Arab region. Even if the constitution of the Islamic Faith Community in Austria implicitly includes all Muslims living in Austria, according to official information in 2011 only 124,465 members were registered.

According to a survey in the Eurobarometer 2010, 44% of Austrians believed in God and 38% in “some kind of spiritual force”, 12% neither in God nor in a spiritual force and 6% did not express themselves. Accordingly, more than a million Austrians declared themselves atheists . According to a current representative survey (n = 419) even 56% of the respondents agreed with agnostic and 24% atheistic questions. Another survey from 2015 came to the conclusion that 64% of Austrians believe in God. In this survey, however, in contrast to the Eurobarometer, there was no way of differentiating between a personal God and a rather impersonal higher power or spiritual force.

Overview: Religious communities in Austria 1951–2001
year	Total population	Roman Catholic	Share in%	Evangelical AB and HB	Share in%	Islamic	Share in%	Old Catholic	Share in%	Israelite	Share in%	Others	Share in%	Non-denominational	Share in%	Unknown	Share in%
1951	6,933,905	6,170,084	89.0	429.493	6.2	*	*	32,919	0.5	11,224	0.2	23.093	0.3	264.014	3.8	3,078	0.0
1961	7,073,807	6,295,075	89.0	438,663	6.2	*	*	29,652	0.4	9,049	0.1	31,386	0.4	266.009	3.8	3,973	0.1
1971	7,491,526	6,548,316	87.4	447.070	6.0	22,267	0.3	26,992	0.4	8,461	0.1	74,440	1.0	321.218	4.3	42,762	0.6
1981	7,555,338	6,372,645	84.3	423.162	5.6	76,939	1.0	25,547	0.3	7.123	0.1	118,866	1.6	452.039	6.0	79.017	1.0
1991	7,795,786	6,081,454	78.0	388,709	5.0	158,766	2.0	18,930	0.2	7,268	0.1	197,433	2.5	672.251	8.6	270.965	3.5
2001	8,032,926	5,915,421	73.6	376.150	4.7	338,988	4.2	14,621	0.2	8,140	0.1	255.681	3.2	963.263	12.0	160,662	2.0

^* Included in the other as not listed separately by Statistics Austria .

Since 2001, due to a change in the law, the religion is no longer officially recorded by Statistics Austria . The following table is largely based on the figures voluntarily provided by the religious communities as well as the independent studies and surveys cited below. Projections, estimates and preliminary figures are shown in italics in the table below .

Overview: Religious communities in Austria since 2002
year	Total population	Roman Catholic	Share in%	Evangelical AB and HB	Share in%	Islamic	Share in%	Christian Orthodox	Share in%	Non-denominational and others	Share in%
2002	8,100,273	5,787,403	71.4
2003	8,142,573	5,751,615	70.6
2004	8.201.359	5,692,838	69.4
2005	8,254,298	5,662,782	68.6	334.243	4.0
2006	8,282,984	5,631,587	68.0	326.117	3.9
2007	8,307,989	5,603,398	67.4	328.710	4.0
2008	8,335,003	5,579,493	66.9	328,346	3.9	515.914	6.2
2009	8,351,643	5,533,517	66.3	325.314	3.9
2010	8.375.164	5,452,734	65.1	323,863	3.9
2011	8,408,121	5,403,722	64.3	319,752	3.8	573,876	6.8	410,000	4.9	1,700,000	20.2
2012	8,451,860	5,359,151	63.4	325.905	3.9
2013	8,507,786	5,308,515	62.4	313,352	3.7
2014	8,584,926	5,265,378	61.3	309.158	3.6
2015	8,700,471	5,211,238	59.9	306.183	3.5
2016	8,772,865	5,162,621	58.8	301,729	3.4	500,000- 700,000	5.7-8.0	450,000- 500,000	5.1-5.7	2,110,000– 2,360,000	24.0-26.9
2017	8,822,267	5,110,743	57.9	296,338	3.4
2018	8,858,775	5,052,727	57.0	290.929	3.3
2019	8.901.064	4,984,633	56.0	283,628	3.2

Switzerland

→ Main article : Religions in Switzerland

The Swiss national churches are also recording a decline due to demographic change and church resignations. In 1970 almost the entire population belonged to a Christian church, of which 48.8% were Protestant Reformed and 46.7% were Roman Catholic. In 2018, the following picture emerged after the last survey: 63.9% of the population (older than 15 years) are members of a Christian church, 6.8% belong to non-Christian religions and 29.3% do not profess any religious community .

For the entire Swiss resident population, the figures for 2018 were as follows: 37.2% (3,182,082 people) were members of the Roman Catholic Church and 24.7% (2,109,360 people) were members of the Evangelical Reformed Church (Total population of 8,546,081 people).

Overview: membership development in Switzerland (age over 15)
year	Population (older than 15)	Roman Catholic Church	Evangelical Reformed Church	Islam	Others	no official registry denomination	no information
1970	4,575,416	46.7%	48.8%	0.2%	2.5%	1.2%	0.6%
1980	4,950,821	46.2%	45.3%	0.7%	2.7%	3.9%	1.2%
1990	5,495,018	46.2%	39.6%	1.6%	3.9%	7.5%	1.2%
2000	5,868,572	42.3%	33.9%	3.6%	5.2%	11.4%	3.6%
2010	6,519,253	38.6%	28.0%	4.5%	6.8%	20.1%	2.0%
2012	6,662,333	38.2%	26.9%	4.9%	7.3%	21.4%	1.3%
2013	6,744,794	38.0%	26.1%	5.1%	7.3%	22.2%	1.3%
2014	6,829,610	37.9%	25.5%	5.1%	7.3%	23.0%	1.2%
2015	6,907,818	37.3%	24.9%	5.1%	7.4%	23.9%	1.4%
2016	6,981,381	36.5%	24.5%	5.2%	7.5%	24.9%	1.4%
2017	7,036,199	35.9%	23.8%	5.4%	7.6%	26.0%	1.3%
2018	7,084,066	35.2%	23.1%	5.3%	7.1%	28.0%	1.3%

Netherlands

The process of secularization in the Netherlands started at the beginning of the 20th century much earlier than in the German-speaking countries . While the Christian regional churches together still represented around 95.3% of the Dutch population in 1899, their combined share had decreased to around 76.4% by 1971, and the share of those without religious affiliation had already risen to around 23.6%. In contrast to the massive losses of the previously predominantly Protestant churches, the Catholic Church was able to increase to 40.4% by 1971. Thereafter, both large churches lost a lot of members and have not represented the majority of the population since the 2000s (see table). In 2017, according to surveys by the central statistical office in the Netherlands, there was a now absolute majority of 51% non-denominational and a relative religious diversity made up of 24% Catholics, 15% Protestants and 5% Muslims as well as 6% members of other religious groups Groupings composed. According to a recent study by Radboud University Nijmegen, however, only 11.7% of the Dutch consider themselves Catholics, 8.6% Protestants and 4.2% as otherwise Christian, while 5.8% consider themselves Muslim and 2.0% Hindu or Buddhist and the rest of 67.8% define it as religiously unbound.

Overview: Religious communities in the Netherlands since 1869
year	Roman Catholic Church	Protestant churches	Muslims	other religious groups	Non-denominational
1869	36.5%	61.3%	-	2.2%	-
1879	35.9%	61.6%	-	2.2%	0.3%
1889	35.4%	60.5%	-	2.6%	1.5%
1899	35.1%	60.2%	-	2.4%	2.3%
1909	35.0%	57.3%	-	2.7%	5.0%
1920	35.6%	53.8%	-	2.8%	7.8%
1930	36.4%	46.3%	-	2.9%	14.4%
1947	38.5%	42.3%	-	2.1%	17.1%
1960	40.4%	40.7%	-	0.6%	18.3%
1971	40.4%	35.9%	0.4%	0.5%	23.6%
1980	38%	30%	-	6%	26%
1990	33%	25%	-	4%	38%
2000	32%	21%	-	6%	41%
2010	27%	18%	5%	5%	45%
2015	24%	15%	5%	6%	50%
2017	24%	15%	5%	6%	51%

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom , the Church of England , part of the Anglican Church ( Anglican Communion ) in the English part of the country, enjoys the status of a state religion . In 1983 a relative majority of 40% of the population identified with one of the Anglican churches (Church of England, Church in Wales , Scottish Episcopal Church ). In the meantime, their number has reduced to around 12%. In 2018, only 38% of the UK population belonged to a Christian church and around 9% to a non-Christian religious group, and 52% were non-denominational. It should be noted that these are self-identification of the respondents, not formal memberships, as many churches in the UK do not collect or report these figures.

Overview: Religious Communities in the United Kingdom 1983–2018
year	Anglican Church	Roman Catholic Church	other Christian religious communities	non-Christian religious communities	Non-denominational
1983	40%	10%	17%	2%	31%
1993	32%	11%	16%	3%	37%
2003	27%	9%	15%	6%	43%
2013	16%	9%	16%	8th %	50%
2015	17%	9%	17%	8th %	48%
2016	15%	9%	17%	6%	53%
2017	14%	8th %	18%	8th %	52%
2018	12%	7%	19%	9%	52%

United States

Increasing secularization has also been observed in the United States, which is traditionally Protestant . According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center , the proportion of Christians fell from a total of 78.4% to 70.6% between 2007 and 2014, while the proportion of non-Christian religions fell from 4.7% to 5.9% in the same period. , but above all that of the non-denominational has increased from 16.1% to 22.8%.

According to a study by the Gallup Institute , around 73% of the population were Christian in 2016 (48.9% Protestants of the various currents, 23% Catholics and 1.8% Mormons). Judaism is the largest non-Christian religion in the United States, accounting for 2.1% of the population. Approx. 0.8% of the population are Muslims, 2.5% belong to other religions. 18.2% of those questioned belonged to the group of non-denominational / atheists / agnostics.

Overview: Religious Communities in the USA 2007–2014
year	Evangelical churches	Roman Catholic Church	Protestant churches	other Christian churches	non-Christian religious communities	Non-denominational
2007	26.3%	23.9%	18.1%	10.1%	4.7%	16.1%
2014	25.4%	20.8%	14.7%	9.7%	5.9%	22.8%

Worldwide situation

According to a study by the Pew Research Center in 2015, Christianity was the largest world religion with around 2.28 billion followers, followed by Islam with around 1.75 billion. Among the other major world religions, Hinduism has around 1.01 billion and Buddhism around 0.5 billion followers, and around 1.17 billion people worldwide are non-denominational.

Worldwide, the Catholic Church is also recording an increase in the number of members due to the general population growth. In 2009 it had 1.17 billion members, an increase of 19 million members or 1.6% compared to the previous year. By 2014 the number of members rose to around 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide. The total of 145 member churches and non-members of the Lutheran World Federation at the end of 2010 recorded an increase of 237,450 people or an increase of 0.3 percent with 74.0 million members. At the beginning of 2004, the number of Catholics in the New World , that is in North, Central and South America, exceeded that of the Old World .

See also

• Religions in Germany

References and comments

1. ↑ ^{a b} Christof Wolf: Religion and Family in Germany.
2. ↑ Peter Maser: Faith in Socialism. Churches and religious communities in the GDR. Berlin 1989, pp. 13-20.
3. ↑ ^{a b} statistics on kirchenaustritt.de .
4. ↑ Number in evangelisch.de .
5. ^ Catholic Church in Germany: Figures and Facts 2011/12.
6. ↑ Economy and Statistics 6/2010 (PDF file; 734 kB).
7. ^ BAMF study of December 14, 2016 , accessed on December 15, 2016.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Religious Affiliations in Germany 2015 , Weltanschauungen Research Group in Germany, accessed on December 27, 2016.
9. ↑ Number of members: Buddhism , in: Religionswissenschaftliche Medien- und Informationsdienst e. V. (Abbreviation: REMID) , accessed on February 4, 2016.
10. ↑ Number of Jews in Germany up to 2016 | Statista. Retrieved July 5, 2018 . 
11. ↑ Numbers of members: Hinduism , in: Religionswissenschaftliche Medien- und Informationsdienst e. V. (Abbreviation: REMID) , accessed on February 4, 2016
12. ^ Membership numbers: Yeziden , in: Religionswissenschaftliche Medien- und Informationsdienst e. V. (Abbreviation: REMID) , accessed on May 7, 2017.
13. ^ Membership numbers : Others , in: Religionswissenschaftliche Medien- und Informationsdienst e. V. (Abbreviation: REMID) , accessed on May 7, 2017.
14. ↑ Development of religious affiliations fowid ( memento of the original from March 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 78 kB), cf. Brockhaus Religions 2007. 
15. ↑ REMID .
16. ↑ FOWID .
17. ^ REMID (2013).
18. ↑ Research Center for Generational Contracts at the University of Freiburg: Coordinated membership and church tax prepayment for the Protestant and Catholic Church in Germany ( Memento from March 27, 2019 in the Internet Archive )
19. ↑ Katholisch.de : Number of church members in Germany will fall by half by 2060 (accessed on June 26, 2020)
20. ↑ ^{a b} FOWID, religious affiliation, population 1970-2011 ( online ( memento of the original from October 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice . ; PDF file; 173 kB). 
21. ↑ FOWID, Religious Affiliation Population 2010-2013 ( online ( memento of the original from December 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note .; PDF file; 143 kB). 
22. ↑ Membership numbers on Kirchenaustritt.de
23. Jump up ↑ Churches Losing More than Half a Million Members , Zeit Online , July 15, 2016.
24. ↑ Federal Statistical Office: Population status , accessed on January 16, 2018.
25. ^ German Bishops' Conference: Church Statistics. Retrieved February 1, 2018 . 
26. ↑ Numbers and data on church members. Retrieved July 15, 2019 . 
27. ↑ Numbers and data on church members. Retrieved July 21, 2019 . 
28. ↑ n-tv news television: the number of Muslims rises to over five percent . In: n-tv.de . ( n-tv.de [accessed December 11, 2017]).
29. ^ Islam in Germany. Retrieved August 17, 2018 . 
30. ↑ Religious Affiliations 2018. Accessed February 1, 2020 . 
31. ^ Statistics Austria : Census 2001 Main Results I - Austria (standard publications) .
32. ^ Orthodoxy in Austria , accessed on September 24, 2016.
33. ↑ The number of Muslims in Austria is growing rapidly .
34. ↑ Islamic Faith Community in Austria, Statistics 2011 , accessed on March 6, 2014.
35. ↑ Special Eurobarometer, Biotechnology Report. (PDF; 7.5 MB) Retrieved February 3, 2015 . 
36. ↑ For 68 percent, the church no longer has any credibility , Der Standard on April 4, 2015.
37. ↑ Do you believe in one God, regardless of religion? , Statista , last seen on October 28, 2017.
38. ↑ Statistics Austria: Population according to religious denomination and federal states 1951 to 2001 (PDF; 39.58 kB), accessed on January 16, 2009.
39. ↑ www.help.gv.at
40. ↑ Statistics Austria: Population at the beginning of the quarter since 2002 by federal state , accessed on February 12, 2020.
41. ^ Evangelical Church in Austria: Facts and Figures , accessed on February 27, 2020.
42. ↑ Austrian Bishops' Conference: Official Journal No. 38 , August 1, 2004 (PDF; 594.48 kB).
43. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 88.11 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
44. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 88.02 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
45. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 14.82 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
46. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 47.23 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
47. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 82.1 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
48. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 82.48 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
49. ↑ More than 500,000 Muslims in Austria , Die Presse on February 25, 2010.
50. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 29.47 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
51. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 109.99 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
52. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 85.59 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
53. ^ Muslims in Austria in Der Standard , September 12, 2014.
54. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 111.57 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
55. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 111.75 kB), accessed on February 18, 2015.
56. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 111.84 kB), accessed on January 12, 2016.
57. ^ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics (PDF; 112.48 kB); accessed on January 10, 2017.
58. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics 2016 (PDF; 112.56 kB), accessed on January 9, 2018.
59. ↑ ^{a b c} Number of Muslims in Austria is growing , Der Standard on April 13, 2017.
60. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics 2017 (PDF; 149.15 kB), accessed on January 15, 2020.
61. ↑ Catholic Church Austria: Statistics 2018 (PDF; 149.45 kB), accessed on January 15, 2020.
62. ↑ Almost 5 million Catholics in Austria , Catholic Church Austria , on January 15, 2020.
63. ^ Membership decline in the regional churches. The pews empty. In: swissinfo.ch, January 9, 2008 ( online ).
64. ↑ ^{a b} Since 2010, the data from the Federal Statistical Office on religious communities in Switzerland has been based on a sample survey, for which 200,000 people aged 15 and over are interviewed. As a result, the data from the population censuses before 2010 and the official membership figures of the churches, which cover all people of all ages living in Switzerland, cannot be compared one-to-one with the data from the annual structural survey. See census in Switzerland # structure survey .
65. ↑ SPI St. Gallen: Church membership in the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Reformed Church by cantons (2018) | Table 1.4. 2020, accessed February 1, 2020 .  (Attention: The cantons of Bern-Jura-Solothurn (BE-JU-SO) form an association of the Evangelical Reformed regional church.)
66. ↑ Religions , Statistics Switzerland, accessed on February 1, 2020.
67. ^ Structural survey of the 2010 Federal Population Census .
68. ↑ www.cbs.nl (Dutch).
69. ↑ Bernts, APJ & Berghuijs, J .: God in Nederland 1966-2015 , 2016 (Dutch).
70. ↑ Knippenberg, H .: De Religieuze Kaart van Nederland. Assen: Koninklijke Van Gorcum (1992, Dutch).
71. ↑ Permanent Onderzoek Leefsituatie (POLS), Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS), Netherlands 1975-2015 (Dutch).
72. ↑ www.cbs.nl (Dutch).
73. ↑ www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk (PDF; 641.71 kB; English).
74. ↑ British Social Attitudes Report ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 2, 2017. 
75. ↑ www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk (PDF; 641.71 kB; English).
76. ↑ Church of England numbers at record low , NatCen Social Research on September 7, 2018 (English).
77. ↑ Religious Identity 1983-2028 , NatCen Social Research, accessed January 18, 2020.
78. ↑ Five Key Findings on Religion in the US , last viewed on October 29, 2017 (English).
79. ↑ America's Changing Religious Landscape , Pew Research Center, accessed May 13, 2015.
80. ↑ The Changing Global Religious Landscape , Pew Research Center, April 5, 2017.
81. ↑ Adventist Press Service ( online ).
82. ↑ Pontifical Yearbook 2016 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2014: dynamics of a Church in transformation, March 5, 2016 , last seen on October 29, 2017 (English).
83. ↑ Lutheran churches are growing worldwide. ( online ).
84. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education ( online ).