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Religion in France (2021)[1]
The majority of the religious population in France identifies as Christian. Catholicism is the most prominent denomination in France, but has long lost the state religion status it held prior to the 1789 French Revolution and during various non-republican regimes of the 19th century, including the Restoration, the July Monarchy and the Second French Empire.
Religion in France is diverse, which could be attributed to the country's adherence to secularism, freedom of religion and freedom of thought, as guaranteed by the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Republic is based on the principle of laïcité (or "freedom of conscience") established by the 1880s Jules Ferry laws and the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State.
The major religions practiced in France include Christianity (about 50% of the overall population,[1] with denominations including Catholicism, various branches of Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Armenian Orthodoxy), Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism among others, making it a multiconfessional country. About 40% of the population is non-religious. Sunday Mass attendance has fallen to 5% for Catholics, and the overall level of religious observance is generally lower than in the past.[2][3]
Demographics
Chronological statistics
Note that these are from different sources and likely have different methodologies, which makes survey to survey comparisons uncertain.
| Religious group |
Population % 1986[4] |
Population % 1987[5] |
Population % 1994[4] |
Population % 2001[5] |
Population % 2004[6] |
Population % 2006[7] |
Population % 2010[5] |
Population % 2012[8] |
Population % 2016[9] |
ages 18-59 % 2019-2020[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christianity | 82% | 76% | 69% | 71% | 66.2% | 66.1% | 67% | 59% | 51.1% | - |
| –Catholicism | 81% | 75% | 67% | 69% | 64.3% | 64.0% | 64% | 56% | - | 29% |
| –Protestantism | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 1.9% | 2.1% | 3% | 3% | - | - |
| –Other and unaffiliated Christians | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Islam | - | - | - | - | 4.3% | 3.0% | - | - | 5.6% | 10% |
| Judaism | - | - | - | - | 0.6% | 0.6% | - | - | 0.8% | |
| Other religions | 2.5% | 3% | 8% | 6% | 1.9% | 2.3% | 5% | 8% | 2.5% | 10% |
| Not religious | 15.5% | 21% | 23% | 23% | 27.0% | 27.6% | 28% | 32% | 39.6% | 51% |
Survey data
In 2015, the Eurobarometer, a survey funded by the European Union, found that Christianity was the religion of 54.3% of the respondents, with Catholicism being the main denomination with 47.8%, followed by other Christians with 4.1% (Protestants with 1.8% and the Eastern Orthodox with 0.6%). Muslims were found to comprise 3.3%, Jews were 0.4%, and members of the other religions were 1.6%. Unaffiliated people were 40.4%; 22.8% declared to be atheists, and 17.6% declared to be agnostics.[11]
In 2017, the Pew Research Center found in their Global Attitudes Survey that 54.2% of the French regarded themselves as Christians, with 47.4% belonging to the Catholic Church, 3.6% being unaffiliated Christians, 2.2% being Protestants, and 1.0% being Eastern Orthodox. The 37.8% of unaffiliated people were divided into 24.8% atheists, 8.2% of nothing in particular, and 4.8% of agnostics. Muslims made up 5.0% of the population, Jews made up 0.4%, and members of other religions made up 1.4%. 1.1% were either undecided or didn't answer the question.[12]
In May 2019, the Eurobarometer conducted a survey in France. It was published in September 2019 within Special Eurobarometer 493, showing the following outcome: Christians made up 47% of the population, with Catholics making up 41%, Orthodox Christians making up 2%, Protestants making up 2%, and other Christians making up 2% each. Muslims were found to be 5%, Jews 1%, and Buddhists 1%. Atheists (21%) and nonbelievers (or agnostics) (19%) made up 40% of unaffiliated people. People of other religions made up 5% of the population, while those who refused to answer made up 1%.[13]
| Source
(year) |
Christianity | Christian denominations | No religion | Other religions | Unanswered | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholicism | Protestants | Orthodox | Other denominations | Islam | Judaism | Buddhism | Other religions | ||||
| Eurobarometer (2019)[14] | 47% | 41% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 40% | 5% | 1% | 1% | 5% | 1% |
| Observatoire de la laïcité (2018)[15] | 52% | 48% | 3% | 1% | 34% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 7% | |
| Eurobarometer (2018)[16] | 54.9% | 49.9% | 2.0% | 0.8% | 2.2% | 37.9% | 4.9% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.9% | |
| Ofre, Institut Randstad (2018) [17] | 51.5% | 49.5% | 2% | 37.5% | 8.5% | 2% | 1% | ||||
| Ipsos survey (2017) [18] | 61.0% | 57.5% | 3.1% | 0.4% | 35.0% | 3.0% | 1.0% | ||||
| Pew Research Center Western Europe survey (2017)[19] | 63.6% | 59.4% | 2.3% | 1.9% | 28.3% | 7.5% | 0.2% | ||||
| Pew Research Center Global Attitudes (2017)[12] | 54.2% | 47.4% | 2.2% | 1.0% | 3.6% | 37.8% | 5.0% | 0.4% | 1.4% | 1.1% | |
| IFOP, Institut Montaigne (2016)[9] | 51.1% | 51.1% | 39.6% | 5.6% | 0.8% | 2.5% | 0.4% | ||||
| Eurobarometer (2015)[11] | 54.3% | 47.8% | 1.8% | 0.6% | 4.1% | 40.4% | 3.3% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.9% | |
Religion among the youth
| Religion by country |
|---|