Religion in France - Statistics

Statistics

Christianity (54%) No religion (31%) Islam (4%) Judaism (1%) Buddhism (1%) Other (9%)

Religion	% of France population
Christianity	54	54
No religion	31	31
Islam	4	4
Judaism	1	1
Buddhism	1	1

The French government by policy keeps no official statistics on religious adherence, nor on ethnicity or on political affiliation. However, unofficial survey estimates exist:

• A poll published in early 2010 presented data on Catholics in France. In 1965, 81% of the French declared themselves as Catholics; no more than 64% did in 2009. The decrease in active Catholics was larger: in 1952, 27% of the French went to Mass once a week or more, while in 2006, no more than 4.5% did.

• A 2006 poll published by Le Monde and Le Monde des Religions in January 2007 found that 51% of the French population describe themselves as Catholics (and only half of those said they believed in God), 31% as atheists, between 4% as Muslims, 3% as Protestants and 1% as Jews.

• This 2006 poll mentioned as "January 2007 poll" in the International Religious Freedom Report 2007 by US Department of State, shows that 51 percent of respondents indicate they are Catholic, even if they never attend religious services. Another 31 percent of those polled state that they have no religious affiliation. Among Catholics, only 8 percent attend Mass weekly, one third do so "occasionally", and 46 percent attend "only for baptisms, weddings, and funerals." Only 52 percent of declared Catholics believe that the existence of God is "certain or possible." On the other hand, about a third of churchgoing Catholics are traditionalists.

• An October 2006 CSA poll addressed solely to Catholics established that 17% of French Catholics (who comprise 52% of the population) didn't believe in God. Among the believers, most (79%) described God as a "force, energy, or spirit" and only 18% as a personal god.

• A December 2006 poll by Harris Interactive, published in The Financial Times, found that 32% of the French population described themselves as agnostic, a further 32% as atheist and only 27% believed in any type of God or supreme being.
• According to the Eurobarometer Poll 2005,
  • 34% of French citizens responded that "they believe there is a God".
  • 27% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force".
  • 33% answered that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".
• According to a study led by CSA Group in 2000-2001 on 24,810 individuals for the French Catholic newspaper La Croix, numbers were as follow : Roman Catholic (69%), Atheism and Agnosticism (22%), Protestantism (2%), and others (7%).
• There are an estimated five to six million individuals of Muslim origin in the country (8 to 10 percent of the population), although estimates of how many of these are practicing vary widely. According to a 2004 survey, 36 percent of Muslims identify themselves as regularly observing traditional rites and practices. However, according to press reports of a September 2006 poll, 88 percent of Muslim respondents report that they were observing the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a marked increase over previously recorded levels of observance. According to press reports, there are more than 2,000 mosques in the country. Protestants make up 3 percent of the population, the Jewish and Buddhist faiths each represent 1 percent, and those of the Sikh faith less than 1 percent.

• The 2007 CIA World Factbook lists the religion of France as: Roman Catholic 83-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4%. In 2002 the CIA World Factbook stated that 88-92% of the French population was Catholic. The source of these numbers is unclear.

• According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Church published by the Vatican, Annuario Pontificio, there were 46,875,000 French catholics (74.9% of the population) in December 2009.

• In a 2003 poll 41% of the respondents said that the existence of God was "excluded" or "unlikely". 33% declared that "atheist" described them rather or very well, and 51% for "Christian". When questioned about their religion, 62% answered Roman Catholic, 6% Muslim, 2% Protestant, 1% Jewish, 2% "other religions" (except for Orthodox or Buddhist, which were negligible), 26% "no religion" and 1% declined to answer. The discrepancy between the number of "atheists" (33%) and the number of with "no religion" (26%) may be attributed to people who feel culturally close to a religion, follow its moral values and traditions, but do not believe in God.

• In a 2012 poll conducted by WIN-Gallup International, 37% of respondents said they were religious, 34% said they were not religious, 29% said convinced atheist and 1% didn't give an answer