Fewer people in NL are religious, even fewer attend services

In total, 58% of people in the Netherlands now describe themselves as not being religious, compared with 55% in 2020 and 45% 10 years earlier.

In particular, the number of people describing themselves as Catholic has gone down. Almost one in five now say they are Catholic but in 2010, Catholics accounted for 27% of the mix.

The number of Protestants fell by four percentage points to 17%, while the number of Muslims remained stable at 5%. Some 6% said they were members of a different church.

The differences are sharpest among the age groups. Just 28% of the under 26s say they are members of a religious group, but that rises to 65% among the over 75s.

Even fewer people are now attending church services or go to other religious ceremonies, with only 13% of the population attending a service at least once a month. Just 13% of Catholics say they attend a service on a monthly basis, compared more than half of Protestants, and 43% of Muslims.