Four in 10 Dutch youngsters are religious, but most don’t go to church

The number of Dutch youngsters who say they belong to a particular religion has gone down sharply over the past few years, according to new research by national statistics office CBS.

In 2010, 49% of 15 to 25-year-olds said they were religious, but that had fallen to 41% by 2015.

While 59% have no religion, 17% say they are Catholic, 11% Protestant and 8% Muslim. Protestant youth are most likely to go to church – 56% attend a service at least once a month. Some 36% of Muslim youngsters say they go the mosque on a monthly basis.

By contrast, just 6% of young Catholics attend mass on a regular basis.

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