Majority of people in Scotland have no religion, census shows

The proportion of people who identified with the Church of Scotland fell from 32.4% of the population in 2011 to 20.4% in 2022, and the number of Catholics from 15.9% to 13.3%. Photograph: Stuart Aylmer/Alamy

A majority of people in Scotland say they do not follow any religion – the first time secular attitudes have overtaken religious identity.

Data from the latest Scottish census, carried out in 2022, shows 51% of the population reported they belonged to no religion – a sharp increase on the 36.7% in 2011.