Religion in the Netherlands

Religion in the Netherlands was dominated by Christianity between the 10th and 20th centuries. In the late 19th century, roughly 60% of the population was Calvinist and 35% was Catholic. Since then, there has been a significant decline in both Catholic and Protestant Christianity, with Protestantism declining to such a degree that Catholicism became the foremost form of the Christian religion. The majority of the Dutch population is secular. Relatively sizable Muslim and Hindu minorities also exist.

In 2015, Statistics Netherlands, the government institute that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands, found that 50.1% of the adult (18+) population declared no religious affiliation. Christians comprised 43.8% of the total population; by denomination, Catholicism was 23.7%, the members of the Protestant Church of the Netherlands were 15.5%, and members of other Christian denominations were 4.6%. Islam comprised 4.9% of the total population, Hinduism 0.6%, Buddhism 0.4%, and Judaism 0.1%.^[2] Many Dutch people believe religion should not have a significant role in politics and education. Religion is also primarily considered a personal matter which should not be discussed in public.^{[3][4] [page needed]}

The Constitution of the Netherlands guarantees freedom of education, which means that all schools that adhere to general quality criteria receive the same government funding. This includes schools based on religious principles by religious groups. Three out of nineteen political parties in the States General (CDA, CU and SGP) are based upon the Christian belief. Several Christian religious holidays are national holidays (Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and the Ascension of Jesus).^[5] Atheism, Agnosticism, and Christian atheism are on the rise and are widely accepted and considered to be non-controversial. Even among those who adhere to Christianity, there are high percentages of atheists, agnostics, and Ietsists, since affiliation with a Christian denomination is also used in a way of cultural identification in various parts of the Netherlands.^[6]

In 2015, 82% of the Netherlands' population said they never or almost never visited a church, and 59% stated that they had never been to a church of any kind. Of all the people questioned, 24% saw themselves as atheist, an increase of 11% compared to the previous study done in 2006.^[7] Ietsism, or spirituality, is rising according to research done in 2015. In 2017 non-religious people were in the majority for the first time. Only 49% of people older than 15 years identified as religious, compared to 54% in 2012. The largest denomination was still Catholicism at 24%, while 5% identified with Islam.^[8]