2020

• December 2020 : Website of information on Islam and Muslims in Switzerland

A website of information on Islam and Muslims in the Swiss context has been set up by the Centre Suisse Islam et Société of the University of Fribourg, Islam&Society.
It is divided into two main sections : one on Muslim women and Muslims in Switzerland (socio-demographic data, history of presence, Muslim organisations and public debates) and a second thematic section with information on Muslim social action, chaplaincy, gender-sexuality, discrimination, youth, imams, media and radicalisation.

• January 2020 : Increase in "no religion" and other developments in Switzerland

According to the structural survey conducted in 2018 (the results of which were published in 2020 by the Federal Statistical Office), the percentage of “non-religious” people in Switzerland increased sharply between 2010 and 2018, reaching 25% of the population. In the 1970s, Catholics and Protestants still accounted for almost the entirety of the population. The decrease in proportion of people identifying with these two religions is such that in 2018, Catholics accounted for only 36.5% of the population, and Protestants 24.4%. The percentage of Muslim people, on the other hand, increased by 0.8% to 5.2% of the population. Buddhists (0.5%) and Hindus (0.6%) outnumber the Jewish community, which accounts for only 0.3%.

As regards religious practice, less than 20% of “non-religious” people attended an institutional religious event over the course of the year preceding the survey. The religious group reporting the lowest practice levels is Muslim men, the percentage of which had not attended an event and did not pray amounted to 46% and 40% respectively. They were followed by Muslim women, reformed Protestants and lastly, Roman Catholics. In contrast, 72% of members of evangelical communities reported having participated in a religious celebration at least once a week. Lastly, women generally pray more than men and are more likely to belong to a religion.

Main sources : SFO website and Le Matin.