Of 400,000 people surveyed, 23.2% said they were not religious, according to the British Office for Statistics. This is a rise of nearly 3% since 2010.
The statistics also indicated that there had been a significant decrease in the numbers of people who described themselves as Christian – with a decline from 71.3% to 68.5%.
In real terms, the study would indicate that in a total population of more than 60 million, there are approximately 14 million people in Great Britain without any religious beliefs.
The survey found that those aged between 25 and 34 were the most likely to have turned away from their faith, while those over 65 were more likely to have expressed a faith preference.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said the ONS findings reflected “the long term decline in church attendance”.
This is projected to continue “as the young practically desert the churches and congregations rapidly age”, he said.
Dr Dave Landrum, director of advocacy at the Evangelical Alliance, argued that the true figure for active Christians would be even lower than the numbers reported by the ONS.
“Ticking a box does not make you a Christian and given the state of our society it is doubtful all of those who self-identify as Christians actually are,” he said.
The study showed that the proportion of the population of Britain who were Muslims increased, from 4.2% in 2010 to 4.4% this year.
There was also a small rise in the proportion of people describing themselves as Sikh while the percentages of Jews and Hindus fell slightly.
The ONS Integrated Household Survey was based on responses from more than 420,000 individuals, making it the largest sample of British life after the census.
Source: The Telegraph
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