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Rising number of those without religious affiliations and diversification of religious affiliations

The diminution of the number of Catholics results in a statistical increase of those without religious affiliations. According to the IFOP survey carried out for La Croix newspaper in July 2006, in France, the number of those without religious affiliations has risen from 24% to 27% between 1995 and 2006.
During the same period, according to the same survey, other religions and denominations are experiencing a slight growth. Beginning from 1987 to 2006, Protestantism increased from 1% to 2% of the general population, which is close to 1.2 million members. This is most probably due to the situation of Protestant Evangelical Churches in France. Other religions experienced also a noticeable growth, of 6% of the general population or 3.6 million members.

Catholics 65
including those Practising regularly 5
Practising occasionally 10
Non practising 50
Protestants 2
Other religions 6
Without religious affiliations 27

The CSA survey entitled The French and religion conducted in December 2004 for La Croix newspaper also highlights the rate of religious affiliation with regard to other religions than the Catholic denomination. They represent 24% which include 49.4% of Muslims, 21.8% of Protestants and 7% of Jews.

And once again, the diversification is more observable in the category of young people. According to the CSA / La Vie / Le Monde survey carried out in March 2003, 62% of the French population claims to belong to the Catholic Church. This number falls to 40% for the category of young people within the age range of 18-24 and rises to 79% for adults over 65 years old. The 24% affiliated to "other religions" in the category of youth within the age range of 18-24, is broken down into 14% of Muslims, 4% of Protestants, 2% of Jews, 1% of Orthodox Christians and 3% of "other religions and denominations".

Thus, a relative growth of minority religions (especially with the affirmation of Islam observable among young people) corresponds to the notable diminution of the predominant religion. And once again, this is illustrated by the IFOP - Okapi survey conducted in 2005 on a sample of 406 French adolescents within the age range of 11-15.

Question: "You personnally, which is your religion?"

Per category (%) Per French population (%)
Catholic 52 65
Protestant 2 2
Muslim 9 5
Jew 1 1
Other religion 1 2
No religious affiliation 34 25
no answer 1 -
Total 100 100

D 24 September 2012    AAnne-Laure Zwilling

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