The Hindu population in England and Wales has exceeded one million for the first time, according to the 2021 census. The number of Hindus rose from 817,000 in 2011 to over 1.03 million in 2021, representing 1.7% of the population.
The census also revealed that Christianity has become a minority religion in England and Wales for the first time. Only 46.2% of people identified as Christian in 2021, down from 59.3% in 2011, a drop of 5.5 million people. Meanwhile, the number of people with no religion surged by 8.5 million to 22.2 million, now over a third of the population.
Other religions also saw growth. The Muslim population increased from 2.7 million to 3.9 million, and the Sikh population rose from 423,000 to 524,000. The Jewish population remained stable at around 271,000. The 'other religion' category, including Paganism, grew by over 100,000 to 0.6% of the population.
The census highlighted increasing diversity in major cities. Leicester, Luton, and Birmingham now have ethnic minority majorities. Slough has the highest ethnic minority population outside London at two-thirds. Overall, the ethnic minority population rose from 14% to 18.3% of the population.
National identity also shifted significantly. The proportion identifying as 'English only' fell from 58% to 15%, while 'British only' rose from 19% to over half. English or Welsh remained the main language for 91.1%, with Romanian becoming the second most common main language after Polish, rising from 68,000 to 472,000 speakers.
