The relationship between ethnicity and religion in the UK

According to the 2011 UK census, the religious breakdown of England and Wales was as follows:

• Christian – 59%
• No religion – 25%
• Muslim – 5%
• Hindu – 1.5%
• Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist, all <1%

The relationship between ethnicity and religion

• Christianity is a predominately White religion, especially the Anglican church
• African forms of Christian spirituality have increased dramatically in the last two decades. Pentecostal Churches are predominately attended by British Africans and African-Caribbeans.
• Sikhs and Hindus are predominantly of Indian Heritage
• British Muslims are predominately of Pakistani Heritage, although there is considerable ethnic diversity within British Islam
• There is some evidence that African-Caribbeans are more likely to be involved in sects such as the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Ethnic minorities tend to be more religious than White Britons 

• Only 32% of adults who reported being Christian said they practiced their religion regularly. This compares to 80% of Muslims and 2/3rds of Hindus, Sikhs and Jews
• Black Christians are 3 times more likely to attend church than White Christians (English Church Census, 2005)
• Muslims, Hindus and Black Christians see religion as more central to their identity than White Christians. O’Beirne 2004 found that:
  • Asians, especially Muslims ranked religion and family equally as markers of identity
  • African-Caribbeans and Black-Africans ranked religion as the third most important factor in their lives.
  • White Christians rarely ranked religion as central to their identity.