The religious landscape in Poland
Portray of the believers
Religious faith is a fairly constant attribute of the Polish society. For the last 20 years it has changed little and remained very high. According to regular CBOS surveys, since the late-1990s over 90% of respondents (between 93% and 97%) describe themselves as believers. Within this group, about one-tenth (lately one in eleven or one in twelve) describes his or her faith as strong. The proportion of people who describe themselves as moderate or strong non-believers remains on a relatively low level (3%-7%); however, since 2005 this group has become more numerous.
The level of religious practice was relatively stable in 1997-2005, and declined afterwards. Since 2005, the proportion of respondents attending religious service at least once a week fell from 58% to 51%, while the number of people who never go to church rose from 9% to 12%. More people attend religious service irregularly (increase from 33% to 37%).
As far as gender is concerned, women prevail among strong believers (64% of them are women and 36% are men), while among non-believers the proportions are almost exactly opposite (37% are women and 63% are men).
Male | Female | |
---|---|---|
Strong believers (N=390)* | 36% | 64% |
Believers (N=3554) | 48% | 52% |
Non-believers (N=322) | 63% | 37% |
*Aggregated data from four national surveys conducted in the period April-July 2013 allow for characterising the people who describe themselves as non-believers and comparing them with strong believers and believers. Aggregated random samples representative for adult population of Poland. Total N= 4266.
Source: "Non-believers: who they are, what are their norms and values", Polish Public Opinion, 134, October 2013.
More information about this topic can be found in the CBOS report in Polish: "Non-believers: who they are, what are their norms and values", Polish Public Opinion, 134, October 2013. Fieldwork for national sample: April-July 2013.
Non-believers in Poland
When age is taken into account, the non-believers are predominantly young. Over two-fifths are in the age 18-34 years. In contrast, over half of people whose faith is strong are at least 55 years old.
Age of respondents | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65 and more | |
Strong believers (N=390) | 7% | 11% | 16% | 12% | 16% | 38% |
Believers (N=3554) | 12% | 21% | 17% | 17% | 18% | 15% |
Non-believers (N=322) | 20% | 24% | 18% | 13% | 14% | 11% |
The majority of people admitting to having no religious faith are residents of big cities (of at least 100,000 residents). The reverse is true about the believers and strong believers: three-fifths live in villages and small towns.
Place of residence | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
rural | Urban below 20.000 | 20.000-99.999 | 100.000-499.999 | 500.000 and more | |
Strong believers (N=390) | 40% | 17% | 18% | 16% | 9% |
Believers (N=3554) | 41% | 16% | 19% | 15% | 9% |
Non-believers (N=322) | 16% | 11% | 11% | 27% | 27% |
People declaring no religion are also characterised by their level of education. Three-quarters of non-believers have at least secondary education, whereas about half of believers and strong believers have primary or basic vocational education.
Level of education | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
primary | Basic vocational | Secondary | tertiary | |
Strong believers (N=390) | 30% | 21% | 30% | 19% |
Believers (N=3554) | 22% | 27% | 33% | 18% |
Non-believers (N=322) | 12% | 13% | 39% | 36% |
Life conditions and religious faith
Education is related to the material living conditions of the respondents. Non-believers evaluate them better than believers.
Evaluation of material living conditions | |||
---|---|---|---|
bad | average | good | |
Strong believers (N=390) | 17% | 50% | 33% |
Believers (N=3554) | 15% | 46% | 39% |
Non-believers (N=322) | 10% | 10% | 50% |
Source: "Non-believers: who they are, what are their norms and values", Polish Public Opinion, 134, October 2013.
More information about this topic can be found in the CBOS report in Polish: "Non-believers: who they are, what are their norms and values", Polish Public Opinion, 134, October 2013. Fieldwork for national sample: April-July 2013.
An analysis of religious belief and national belonging in Central and Eastern Europe (May 2017) is available on the Pew Research Center website (full report available as a pdf document).