Fewer Sunderland people identify as Christian

Office for National Statistics data from the 2021 census shows 53% of people in the area selected Christianity as their religion – down significantly from 70% in the last survey a decade before.

Some 39% selected "no religion" last year – up from 22% in 2011.

The area follows trends across England and Wales where 46% of the population described themselves as Christian in the census, down from 59% a decade earlier and the first time the proportion has dropped below half.

The percentage of people saying they had no religion jumped from 25% in 2011 to 37% last year.

Nationally, there were increases in the proportion of people describing themselves as Muslim, with 6.5% selecting the religion last year, up from 4.9% in the previous census.

More people also identified as Hindu, increasing from 1.5% in 2011 to 1.7% in 2021.

The figures show more people in Sunderland identify as Muslim, with 4,846 selecting the religion last year – up from 3,650 in 2011.

Additionally, 611 residents said they were Hindu in the survey, up from 607 10 years ago.

There were 539 Buddhists and 87 residents who selected Judaism.

Of the other options, 253 said they were pagans and 32 said they practice Heathenism.

The Archbishop of York and Primate of England, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell said: "It is not a great surprise that the census shows fewer people in this country identifying as Christian than in the past.”