More non-religious than Catholics in Switzerland for the first time
Published: Friday, Jan 26th 2024, 09:30
Updated At: Friday, Jan 26th 2024, 09:30
Back to Live Feed
For the first time, there are more people with no religious affiliation in Switzerland than Catholics. At 34 percent of the population, the group with no religious affiliation has overtaken Catholics (32 percent). In third place are the Protestant Reformed with a share of 21 percent of the population, as the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) announced on Friday. The Federal Statistical Office bases its figures on the year 2022.
Other religious communities account for a further thirteen percent of the population. These are mainly other Christian and Islamic religious communities.
According to the FSO, the proportion of the population with no religious affiliation in Switzerland has risen steadily over the past 50 years, while the number of Catholics and Protestants has steadily decreased.
As recently as 1970, only one percent of the population had no religious affiliation. This proportion grew to eleven percent by the turn of the millennium. Today, more than a third of the population describes itself as non-denominational.
Wide variation between cantons
However, the proportion of non-denominational people varies from canton to canton: in Basel-Stadt (56%) and Neuchâtel (53%), for example, the majority of the population does not belong to any religious community. In the cantons of Nidwalden (24%), Obwalden (22%) and Uri (19%), the figure is less than half as high.
The lowest proportion of people with no religious affiliation is in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden at 15%. According to the FSO, the population with no religious affiliation is generally less well represented in rural areas of Switzerland (28%) than in urban areas (36%).
Young people are more often non-denominational
The population with no religious affiliation is also younger than the rest of the population. Meanwhile, only 16% of people aged 75 and over do not belong to any religion, while their proportion in the next youngest group is constantly increasing - with the exception of the youngest age group of 15 to 24-year-olds.
In terms of proportion, people with no religious affiliation are most strongly represented in the 25 to 34 age group, where they make up 42 percent. Overall, more men have no religious affiliation than women.
Many have only given up their religious affiliation in the course of their lives. The 2019 language, religion and culture surveys show that around two thirds of people with no official religious affiliation belonged to a religion as a child. Around half of these people previously belonged to the Roman Catholic Church and 40% to the Protestant Reformed Church.
Almost a third believe in a higher power
According to the FSO, the main reason for abandoning their religious affiliation was that they had lost their faith or had never had a faith at all. Just under another third did not agree with the statements of the respective religious community.
Meanwhile, just under a third of people with no religious affiliation consider themselves "somewhat or definitely" spiritual. Religion or spirituality also play a rather or very important role in certain situations for people with no religious affiliation, for example in difficult moments in life or in the event of illness. Around 30 percent of non-denominational people do not believe in one or more gods, but do believe in a higher power.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic