Only a third of young say they are Christian

Just a third of those aged under 25 in England and Wales now identify as Christian, with the average age of believers leaping to over 50, census data shows.

The Church of England said yesterday that it needed to ‘‘connect with Generation Z’’ after figures showed that those with ‘‘no religion’’ now outnumber Christians across the entire population under retirement age, with a wide gap among those aged 25 and under.

Christians are by far the oldest group, with the median age increasing from 45 in 2011 to 51 in 2021. This compares with a median age for the entire population of 40, up slightly from 39 in 2011.

Muslims are the youngest group, with an average age of 27, up slightly from 25 a decade ago. The average age of those with no religion is 32, up from 30. For both Hindus and Sikhs it is 37, up from 32; for Jews is 41, with no change from 2011; and for Buddhists is 43, up from 37 in 2011.

The first data on religious affiliation from the 2021 census was released in November and showed that the proportion of the English and Welsh population that identifies as Christian has fallen below half for the first time, dropping from 59.3% in 2011 to 46.2% in 2021. The proportion with no religion rose from 25 to 37.5% over the same period.

The Office for National Statistics has broken this data down by age.

The figures confirm that Christian churches rely heavily on those of retirement age and suggest that the proportion of Christians will continue dwindling as older worshippers die much faster than they are being replaced by younger believers.

GETTY IMAGES The historic St Mark’s church in St John’s Wood, London, was gutted by fire this week. But the Church of England has a more fundamental problem as census data shows a disconnect with younger generations.