Census Scotland: What results tell us about religion, ethnic group, language and national identity amid Scottish first

Shift away from religion revealed in Census described as a ‘watershed moment’

The majority of people in Scotland say they have no religion, according to the latest figures from Scotland’s national Census.

In what represents a historic first, the proportion of people who responded ‘no religion’ in the 2022 Census was higher than those with a religion, with the data showing the waning influence of faith on the lives of most Scots.

A total of 51.1 per cent of people said they had no religion, up sharply from the 36.7 per cent who gave the same answer in the 2011 census.

The new census data, released by National Records of Scotland (NRS), shows that ‘no religion’ was the most common response in almost every one of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas, although in the Western Isles, Church of Scotland remained the most common response, while in Inverclyde, it was Roman Catholic.

Calls for ‘secular approach’ to public policy

Across Scotland, 20.4 per cent cited the Church of Scotland as their religion. That is down from 32.4 per cent in 2011, while the next largest religious groups were Roman Catholic (13.3 per cent), ‘other Christian’ (5.1 per cent) and Muslim (2.2 per cent). Smaller groups included Hindu (0.55 per cent), pagan (0.35 per cent), Buddhist (0.28 per cent), Sikh (0.2 per cent) and Jewish (0.11 per cent).

Stephen Evans, chief executive of the National Secular Society, described the census findings as a “watershed moment”. He said: “This underscores the need for a secular approach to public policy, particularly in the area of education where Christian religious observance is still compulsory, churches have a privileged role and where schools are still divided along Catholic and Protestant lines.”

Across Scotland, 20.4 per cent of people cited the Church of Scotland as their religion, down from 32.4 per cent in 2011. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Proportion of people identifying as Scottish or British on the rise

The NRS data also showed the percentage of people in Scotland with a minority ethnic background increased from 8.2 per cent in the 2011 census to 12.9 per cent in 2022 – a larger increase than over the previous decade.

The 2022 data showed the percentage of people who said Scottish was their only national identity had increased since the previous 2011 census, up from 62.4 per cent to 65.5 per cent.

The percentage who said their only national identity was British also increased, rising from 8.4 per cent to 13.9 per cent. The proportion who said they felt both Scottish and British decreased from 18.3 per cent to 8.2 per cent.

Data shows spike in Scots with Gaelic skills

The survey also found 2.5 per cent of people aged three and over had some skills in Gaelic in 2022, an increase of 43,100 people since 2011 when 1.7 per cent had some skills in Gaelic.

The percentage of people with some skills in Scots also increased, up to 46.2 per cent in 2022 from 37.7 per cent in 2011, and was higher in the north east of Scotland.

Jon Wroth-Smith, NRS director of Census statistics, said: “These statistics give a fascinating insight into religion, ethnicity, national identity and language use across Scotland and how they have changed over the years.

“It is exciting to publish the first of the topic releases and this, along with our other census data to come, will help local and central government, businesses and charities to plan services in the years ahead.”