Religions in Switzerland

Confessional areas of Switzerland (territorial status January 1, 2017, denomination shares from 2000)

Confessional areas of Switzerland around 1800

Of the resident population aged 15 and over, in 2017, according to a survey of 200,000 people by the Federal Statistical Office (BFS), 35.9 percent were Roman Catholic , 23.8 percent were Reformed , and 26 percent are described as non-denominational in official jargon . 5.9 percent are members of another Christian denomination and 5.4 percent of an Islamic one. At the end of 2010, according to the Federal Statistical Office, the comparable figures were 38.6 percent Roman Catholic, 28.0 percent Reformed, 20.1 percent described as non-denominational, 4.5 percent belonged to Islamic denominations , 5.5 percent were members of other Christian communities Communities, 1.1 percent belonged to other religious communities, 0.24 percent were of Jewish faith and 2 percent gave no answer.

Of the entire Swiss resident population, 37.2 percent (3,182,082 people) were members of the Roman Catholic Church and 24.7 percent (2,109,360 people) were members of the Evangelical Reformed Church (100 percent: 8,546,081 people).

Legal Regulations

Swiss resident population aged 15 and over by religion (percentages), 2014
Christianity			71.5
- Roman Catholic			38.0
- evangelical reformed			26.0
- Christian Orthodox			2.2
- evangelical			1.7
- Lutherans			1.0
- other Christs			2.6
other religions			6.5
- Muslim			5.0
- Buddhist			0.5
- Hindu			0.5
- Jewish			0.2
- other faith community			0.3
non-denominational *			22.0
* Of these, 42% believe in a god / a higher power, 32% describe themselves as atheists , 25% as agnostics .

Religious freedom

→ Main article : Freedom of religion in Switzerland

In Switzerland, religious freedom is a constitutionally anchored fundamental right .

Status of regional churches

It is up to the cantons to decide whether they want to give selected religious communities a special status as regional churches . In most cantons, the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Reformed Church are recognized as regional churches, in the north-west and some north-east Switzerland cantons, in the canton of Zurich and in the canton of Bern , the Christian Catholic church is also recognized. The legal status of the regional churches is different; see the article regional churches in Switzerland.

In the cantons of Basel-Stadt , Bern, Freiburg , St. Gallen , Vaud and Zurich, the Jewish community also enjoys recognition under public law. There are no regional churches in the western Swiss cantons of Geneva and Neuchâtel because church and state are completely separate there; the Reformed and Catholic Churches are nonetheless recognized as “organizations of public interest”.

Distribution of religion and denomination

Denomination distribution (year 2000)

The population of the major Swiss cities shows a relatively balanced religious denomination : 32.0 percent are Roman Catholic, 27.9 percent are Protestant Reformed. The traditionally reformed cities of Zurich and Geneva are predominantly Roman Catholic today; Bern is the only major city that is still largely Reformed . The city of Basel has a non-denominational majority, the once dominant Evangelical Reformed Church (1850: 80.3 percent) has fallen behind the Roman Catholic.

Denomination distribution (percentages)

Big city	Roman Catholic	ev.-reformed	non-denominational
Zurich	33.9	30.3	16.8
Geneva	37.4	13.5	23.2
Basel	25.2	23.5	31.4
Bern	24.5	47.0	12.7
Lausanne	37.8	27.2	16.9

Even in the agglomerations of the Central Plateau , between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance , there are no longer any clearly dominant churches and religious communities. The canton of Bern (especially the Emmental and the western Bernese Oberland ), parts of Graubünden and Schaffhausen are dominated by Protestants . The Roman Catholic Church dominates in the cantons of Friborg, Jura , Valais , Ticino , in the cantons of Central Switzerland and in parts of Eastern Switzerland ( Appenzell Innerrhoden , parts of St. Gallen and in the Surselva in the canton of Graubünden).

The Christian Catholic Church is only of local importance; it is most widespread in the Basel region (especially in the Rheinfelden district in Aargau ) and Solothurn .

The Anabaptist movement arose in Switzerland during the Reformation . The Anabaptists were then called the Swiss Brothers and are now known as Mennonites or Old Anabaptists . The remaining communities in Switzerland are brought together in the Conference of the Mennonites of Switzerland .

In two cases, the religious contrast contributed to the formation of new cantons:

• In 1597, Appenzell Ausserrhoden , which had become Protestant, separated from Appenzell Innerrhoden , which had remained Catholic.
• The split of the predominantly Catholic canton of Jura from the largely reformed canton of Bern in 1978 is partly due to denominational differences; the also French-speaking, but mostly reformed administrative districts of the southern Jura spoke out in favor of remaining with the canton of Bern.

For the historical situation see the article Switzerland (religions) .

Denomination distribution in the cantons (year 2018)

Today the canton of Bern is the only canton in which the members of the Evangelical Reformed Church are in an absolute majority . In contrast, the Catholics in several cantons form an absolute majority (in German-speaking Switzerland mainly in the area of ​​Central Switzerland, in French- speaking Switzerland in the cantons of Friborg and Jura, in Italian-speaking Switzerland in the canton of Ticino). In all cantons, the membership of the two recognized regional churches (Roman Catholic and Evangelical Reformed Church) is over 50 percent. The canton of Basel-Stadt is an exception, where only a quarter of the population belongs to a regional church. Exact figures on other religious communities or the proportion of non-religious groups in the total population have not been available since the census in 2000.

Total population by religion in the cantons in 2018 (colored background: absolute majority)

Canton	Total population	Roman Catholic population	Evangelical Reformed population	roman catholic %	evangelical reformed %	Other christl. Denomination, religion or non-denominational %
Zurich	1,520,968	387.325	425.145	25.5	28.0	46.6
Bern	1,034,977	164.866	541.148	15.9	52.3	31.8
Vaud	799.145	250.543	205.775	31.4	25.7	42.9
Aargau	678.207	215.984	161.317	31.8	23.8	44.4
St. Gallen	507.697	226.264	104.851	44.6	20.7	34.8
Geneva	499,480	219,477	62.769	43.9	12.6	43.5
Lucerne	409,557	245,397	41.673	59.9	10.2	29.9
Ticino	353,343	235.570	5.356	66.7	1.5	31.8
Valais	343,955	261.963	20,042	76.2	5.8	18.0
Freiburg	318.714	197.559	41,534	62.0	13.0	25.0
Basel-Country	288.132	71.541	85.388	24.8	29.6	45.5
Thurgau	276,472	85.104	93.628	30.8	33.9	35.4
Solothurn	274.748	86,518	58,522	31.5	21.3	47.2
Grisons	198.379	89.768	66,536	45.3	33.5	21.2
Basel city	194.766	24.783	26,380	12.7	13.5	73.7
Neuchâtel	176.850	64.258	51.378	36.3	29.1	34.6
Schwyz	159.165	95.794	18,390	60.2	11.6	28.3
train	126.837	61.999	17.070	48.9	13.5	37.7
Schaffhausen	81.991	17.155	29,190	20.9	35.6	43.5
law	73.419	55,000	7.023	74.9	9.6	15.5
A. Ausserrhoden / A. Innerrhoden	71.379	27,942	23,513	39.1	32.9	27.9
Nidwalden	43.223	28,363	4,336	65.6	10.0	24.3
Glarus	40,403	13,383	13.768	33.1	34.1	32.8
Obwalden	37.841	26,944	2.937	71.2	7.8	21.0
Uri	36,433	28,582	1.691	78.5	4.6	16.9
Switzerland	8,546,081	3,182,082	2,109,360	37.2	24.7	38.1

Religious affiliation changes

Statistically, the large traditional religious communities ( Catholicism and Protestantism ) in Switzerland are shrinking , while the smaller religious communities are growing. The growth is particularly pronounced in Islam . Above all, however, the proportion of people without religious affiliation has also increased sharply. Buddhism is particularly evident in large cities.

Total resident population by religious affiliation (in%)

	1970	2000	2018
Evangelical Reformed Church	46.42	33.04	24.68
Evangelical Methodist Church	00.17	00.12
New Apostolic Church	00.49	00.38
Jehovah's Witnesses	00.17	00.28
other Protestant churches and communities	00.42	01.44
Roman Catholic Church	49.39	41.82	37.23
Christian Catholic Church	00.32	00.18
Christian Orthodox Churches	00.33	01.81
other Christian communities	00.05	00.20
Jewish religious community	00.33	00.25
Islamic communities	00.26	04.26
other churches and religious communities	00.12	00.78
no affiliation	01.14	11.11
without specification	00.39	04.33
Total population	100 (6,269,783)	100 (7,288,010)	100 (8,546,081)

Religious affiliation by nationality

If the nationalities most frequently represented in Switzerland are considered, according to a survey by the Federal Statistical Office, there are in some cases considerable differences with regard to the respective religious affiliation.

Most common nationalities in Switzerland by religious affiliation, status 2017 (figures in%, majorities green)

religion	Switzerland	Italy	Germany	Balkans *	Portugal	France	Spain	Turkey
Christianity	72.9	80.9	47.0	26.0	76.7	38.5	65.8	2.1
- Roman Catholic Church	36.7	76.9	22.6	5.0	73.9	33.5	62.8	0.3
- Evangelical Reformed Church	31.2	0.6	20.3	0.1	0.4	2.3	0.6	0.2
- other Christian churches	5.0	3.4	4.1	20.9	2.4	2.7	2.4	1.6
Judaism	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.9	0.1	0.1
Islam	2.4	1.2	1.4	61.1	0.3	2.7	0.6	72.9
other religions	0.9	0.4	0.2	0.5	0.4	1.1	0.4	1.2
non-denominational	22.4	16.1	50.0	10.8	20.3	54.6	31.1	22.3
no information	1.2	1.4	0.7	1.5	2.4	2.4	1.8	1.4
* The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) groups the following nations under the Balkan states: Albania , Serbia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Montenegro , North Macedonia and Kosovo .

Religious communities in Switzerland

• Old Anabaptists: see Conference of the Mennonites of Switzerland (Old Anabaptists)
• Buddhism: see Buddhism in Switzerland
• Christian Catholic Church: see Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland
• Evangelical Free Churches: see Association of Evangelical Free Churches and Congregations in Switzerland
• Islam: see Islam in Switzerland
• Judaism: see Judaism in Switzerland
• Reformed Church: see Evangelical Reformed Churches in Switzerland
• Roman Catholic Church: see Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland

Roman Catholic dioceses

Map of the Catholic dioceses in Switzerland

The Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland is divided into the following dioceses :

Dioceses

• Diocese of Basel based in Solothurn
• Diocese of Chur based in Chur
• Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Friborg with headquarters in Friborg
• Diocese of Lugano with its seat in Lugano
• Diocese of St. Gallen based in St. Gallen
• Diocese of Sion with seat in Sion

Territorial abbeys

• Einsiedeln Abbey
• Saint-Maurice Abbey

The coordinating body of the Roman Catholic dioceses of Switzerland is the Swiss Bishops' Conference .

See also : List of Roman Catholic Bishops for Switzerland

Important religious buildings of non-Christian religions

• Buddhism: Wat Srinagarindravararam temple in Gretzenbach SO.
• Hinduism: Sri Subramania Temple in Zurich.
• Islam: Mahmud Mosque in Zurich; Mosque in Geneva .
• Jewish religious community: Synagogues in Basel , Zurich, Geneva.
• Sikh: Gurdwara Sahib Temple in Langenthal BE (completed in 2006).

See also

• List of Swiss theologians
• House of Religions (Bern)

Web links

• Christoph Uehlinger: Religions. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Jakob Frey: Church tax. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Portal «Religious Landscape Switzerland» , community portal of the Commission «Church and Tourism» of the Evangelical Reformed Church Switzerland EKS and the Commission «Tourism, Leisure and Pilgrim Pastoral Care» of the Swiss Bishops' Conference SBK.
• INFOREL, Information Religion , "Religions and world views in the Basel region"

References and comments

1. ↑ ^{a b} Since 2010, the FSO's data on religious communities in Switzerland have been based on a sample survey for which 200,000 people aged 15 and over are surveyed. The results of the survey are therefore given with a statistical confidence interval. As a result, the data from the population censuses before 2010, which recorded all people of all ages residing in Switzerland, cannot be compared one-to-one with the data from the annual structural survey. See census in Switzerland # structure survey .
2. ↑ Federal Statistical Office: Permanent resident population aged 15 and over by religious affiliation - 1910-2017 | Table. January 29, 2019, accessed January 29, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Federal Statistical Office, Structural Survey of the Federal Population Census 2010 Corrected data are in the linked document
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Since the last census in 2000, precise data on the religious affiliation of the total population are only available for the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Reformed Churches, whose members are officially recorded (due to church taxes, among other things).
5. ↑ ^{a b c} SPI St. Gallen: Church membership in the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Reformed Church by cantons (2018) | Table 1.4. 2019, accessed January 31, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Survey on Language, Religion and Culture 2014: Religious and Spiritual Practices and Beliefs in Switzerland. (PDF) (No longer available online.) 2016, formerly in the original ; Retrieved April 22, 2016 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
7. ↑ www.migraweb.ch: http://www.migraweb.ch/de/themen/religion/juedische-gemeinden/. Retrieved September 4, 2018 . 
8. ^ FSO ( Memento of March 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ Reformed Churches Bern-Jura-Solothurn: Activity Report 2018 (separate data for the cantons of Bern, Jura and Solothurn (district synod / upper canton)). 2019, accessed January 31, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Due to cross-border church structures, no separate and current data is available for the half-cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden. The proportion of the Evangelical Reformed population in Ausserrhoden is traditionally high, while the Catholics in Innerrhoden form a majority. See also land division (Appenzell) .
11. ↑ Religions: Federal Statistical Office FSO
12. ↑ Simon Hehli: When the country loses its faith In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of January 8, 2018
13. ^ Claude Bovay: Federal Population Census 2000: Religious Landscape in Switzerland. Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel 2004, ISBN 3-303-16073-2 , p. 11 ( PDF; 625 kB ( Memento of the original dated November 16, 2013 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 note. ). 
14. ↑ Federal Statistical Office: Permanent resident population aged 15 and over by nationality and religious affiliation, Switzerland (people aged 15 and over residing in Switzerland were surveyed, study period: 2013-2017) (XLSX) March 19, 2019.