Just over half the Dutch population say they are religious

Last year, 53% of the Dutch considered themselves to be religious, down slightly on 2012, according to new figures from the national statistics office CBS.

One in four people consider themselves to be Catholics, 32% are a member of one of the various Protestant churches in the Netherlands and 5% are Muslim, the new CBS figures show.

Members of orthodox Protestant groups are most likely to go to church – half of them go at least once a week. Almost 27% of Muslims say they attend a mosque service once a week, but just 6.3% of Catholics do so. 

The former island of Urk has the highest percentage of churchgoers – nearly 94% of the fishing port’s population go to church at least once a week.

Muslims account for the largest religious population in The Hague (14%) and Amsterdam (11%). However, the number of active Muslims is just a tiny fraction higher than the percentage of Catholics in both cities, the CBS said.

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