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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland for first time

Hands holding a wooden rosary
Higher birth rates among Catholics had gradually closed the gap with Protestants, one historian said. Photograph: Kzenon/Alamy

Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland for the first time, a demographic milestone for a state that was designed a century ago to have a permanent Protestant majority.

Results from the 2021 census released on Thursday showed that 45.7% of inhabitants are Catholic or from a Catholic background compared with 43.48% from Protestant or other Christian backgrounds. The 2011 census figures were 45% Catholic and 48% Protestant. Neither bloc is a majority.

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