Average age of UK Christians reaches 50 and over for first time

The average age of Christians is over 50 for the first time in census history, latest figures reveal.

Data from the Office for National Statistics show the median age of people who identified as “Christian” in 2021 was 51, an increase from 45 in the 2011 census.

Of the 27.5 million people who identified as “Christian”, nearly three in 10 (29 per cent) are aged 65 and over – up from just over two in 10 (22.3 per cent) a decade ago.

The figures released on Monday also show that most young people identify as having “no religion”.

The Church of England said it does not “underestimate the need to connect with Generation Z” following the latest figures, and that doing so is one of the church’s “key priorities” for this decade.

People identifying as Muslim had the youngest average age of any group at 27 years, up from 25 in 2011.

Most of the other main religious groups have seen an increase in the age profile of worshippers, with Hindu up from 32 years to 37 years, Sikh from 32 to 37 and Buddhist from 37 to 43, while the average age of people identifying as Jewish was unchanged at 41 years.

Christianity had the oldest average age, as well as the largest increase in median age for all religious groups since the last census – alongside Buddhism, which also saw an increase of six years.

Meanwhile, the average age of people saying they have no religion has increased from 30 to 32.

More than half of people in every year from age 22 to 30 chose this option, while 27-year-olds account for the highest proportion of non-believers at 53 per cent. Only 8.8 per cent of those who said they had no religion were aged 65 and over.

While the older demographic of Christians in England and Wales is expanding, the numbers are depleting in younger age groups.

In 2011, 5.1 per cent of people (1.7 million), who identified as Christian were aged 21 to 25 years; this decreased to 3.9 per cent (1.1 million) in 2021.

This cohort would have been aged 11 to 15 years in 2011, at which time they accounted for 5.5 per cent (1.8 million) of those who identified as Christian, compared with 3.9 per cent (just over one million) in 2021.

Responding to the latest data, Dr Stephen Hance, the Church of England’s national lead on evangelism, told The Telegraph: “Every generation needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and we certainly don’t underestimate the need to connect with Generation Z. That is why we have made it one of the Church of England’s key priorities for this decade.

“We know that younger people today are less likely to have been brought up in the Christian faith than in the past. But while they may be less familiar with its message that doesn’t mean they are less open to faith.

“The church, both locally and nationally, is exploring ways of connecting with Generation Z through traditional means and new forms of communication.”

Commenting on the contrast between the average ages of Muslims and Christians in the latest figures, Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said: “Many Muslim-majority countries where perhaps British Muslims have originated from have younger populations than in Europe.”

He added that in some of these countries “most of the population is under 30,” and that the relative youth of Britain’s Muslim population was likely “in part due to migration”.

‘The UK faces a non-religious future’

The figures come after it was revealed that Christians are now a minority in England and Wales for the first time.

The number of people who identified as Christian between 2011 and 2021 decreased from 59.3 to 46.2 per cent.

The census data also show that every major religion increased over the 10 year period, except for Christianity.

Andrew Copson, the chief executive of Humanists UK, which ran a campaign ahead of the two most recent censuses encouraging non-religious people to tick the form’s “no religion” box, said the figures “make plain that the UK faces a non-religious future”.

He added: “This is in stark contrast to how our state institutions operate today. No other European country has such a religious set-up as we do in terms of law and public policy, while at the same time having such a non-religious population.

“Politicians should look at today’s results and recognise they must renegotiate the place of religion or belief in today’s society.”