Religion in Scotland

Religion in Scotland
Church of Scotland Catholic Church Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) United Free Church of Scotland Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland International Presbyterian Church Associated Presbyterian Churches Scottish Episcopal Church Eastern Orthodoxy Oriental Orthodoxy Baptist Union of Scotland Methodist Church of Great Britain Latter-day Saints Salvation Army Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches Congregational Federation Action of Churches Together in Scotland Scottish Reformation Bahá'í Faith Buddhism Hinduism Islam Judaism Sikhism
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As of the 2022 census, None was the largest category of belief in Scotland, chosen by 51.1% of the Scottish population identifying when asked: "What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?" This represented an increase from the 2011 figure of 36.7% (and 840,00 more people). 38.8% identified as Christian with most of them declaring affiliation with the Church of Scotland (52.5% of Christians; 20.4% of the total population) and the Catholic Church (34.3% of Christians; 13.3% of the total population). The only other religious persuasions with more than 1% affiliation were 'Other Christian' and Muslim at 5.1% and 2.2% of the total population, respectively.

The Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination often known as The Kirk, is recognised in law as the national church of Scotland. It is not an established church and is independent of state control. The Catholic Church is especially important in West Central Scotland and parts of the Highlands. Scotland's third largest church is the Scottish Episcopal Church.^[1] There are also multiple smaller Presbyterian churches, all of which either broke away from the Church of Scotland or themselves separated from churches which previously did so. The 2019 Scottish Household survey had a rate of the proportion of adults reporting not belonging to a religion of 56%. The trend of declining religious belief coincided with a sharp decrease since 2009 in the proportion of people who report that they belong to the Church of Scotland, from 34% to 20% of adults.

Other religions have established a presence in Scotland, mainly through immigration and higher birth rates among ethnic minorities. Those with the most adherents in the 2022 census are Islam (2.2%, up from 1.4% in 2011), Hinduism (0.6%), Buddhism (0.3%) and Sikhism (0.2%). Minority faiths include Modern Paganism and the Baháʼí Faith. There are also various organisations which actively promote humanism and secularism. Since 2016, secular humanists have conducted more weddings in Scotland each year than either the Catholic Church, Church of Scotland, or any other religion.^[2]