More people opting out of the church

The more than 12,000 people who left in 2022 was a 42 percent increase compared to the previous year … with young people leading the way

Christian Wenande

Feb 16, 2023

While more people opted for church weddings last year, that seems to be about the extent of their penchent for the pews in many cases.

Following a brief lull in recent years, people are once again opting out of the Church of Denmark in greater numbers again.

According to figures from Danmarks Statistik, 12,751 people left the church in 2022 – a 42 percent rise compared to 2021 and the most since 2017.

The average age of those choosing to leave was 39 and the highest share was among 27-year-olds.

Furthermore, the number of 18-year-olds who opted out was ten times as high as the figure for 17-year-olds.

Immigrants staying away
As it stands, 72 percent of the population were members of the church, down from 73 percent last year and down by 16 percentage points compared to when the figures first were registered back in 1986.

Ethic Danes accounted for 84 percent of church members, while immigrants and their descendants landed at 7 and 6 percent.

Tingbjerg Parish has the lowest share of church members at just 14 percent, followed by Vollsmose (24 percent) and Gellerup (25 percent). All three areas have high immigrant numbers.

In Denmark, you automatically become a member of the church when you are christened and members pay a church tax – an amount that is dependent on your income.

Check out more figures relating to church membership here (in Danish).

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More people opting out of the church

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