Gen Z churchgoing is actually still declining, new British Social Attitudes Survey shows

New analysis of recently published British Social Attitudes Survey data by Humanists UK has shown that churchgoing, including among Gen Z, has continued its long-term decline. The findings are consistent with the Church of England’s and Catholic Church’s own church attendance records. They undermine YouGov polling for the Bible Society which recently showed the opposite trend and triggered a spate of media coverage for what appeared to be a dramatic and sudden change.

Last year the Bible Society reported on YouGov data comparing 2018 to 2024, apparently showing churchgoing was up among every age group, but particularly among the young:

Data from the 2024 British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey has now become available for this sort of detailed analysis. BSA is considered the gold standard of social research surveys in the UK because of its methodological rigour, including using probability-based random sampling, not online opt-in panels; online data collection with telephone as a backup option; and careful weighting and validation. It also publishes its datasets in full, which the Bible Society has not done with the YouGov poll in question.

The BSA data becoming available means the same comparison to the Bible Society/YouGov poll is possible, and it shows the opposite trend:

The decline in regular churchgoing includes Gen Z, who are also the lowest attenders of all generations.

Humanists UK Director of Human Rights and Advocacy Richy Thompson commented:

‘As more and more data becomes available, it becomes increasingly obvious there is no “quiet revival” in churchgoing, but in fact ongoing decline. And yet the Quiet Revival report has continued to generate excited chatter and misleading discourse. The Bible Society was very headstrong in its report, declaring that “the Church is in a period of rapid growth” and that this “reality can no longer be denied”. That’s clearly wrong. The Bible Society should retract its claims.’

The Church of England’s own figures also show decline

The BSA data matches other YouGov data, from the British Election Study – a larger survey than the Bible Society’s, run over the same period, and considered more robust because it is a longitudinal survey that attempts to ask the same panel the same questions over successive years. In 2024 it showed 6.6% of the population being Christians attending church monthly, down from 8.0% in 2015, while the Bible Society showed the share going from 8% in 2018 to 12% in 2024. Previously, when Humanists UK asked YouGov to explain the difference between its two sources of data, it said ‘survey design and weighting will have an impact on outcomes, and that is the likely cause of the discrepancy.’ Which means that it couldn’t actually say whether church attendance is growing or declining.

Similarly, while the Bible Society report showed huge rises in Church of England and Catholic Church attendance, the churches themselves’ figures have shown decline over the same period. Both have seen attendances rise since the pandemic but not to the point of meeting the long-term trend of decline that was occurring beforehand.

The Church of England shows decline

Since the Bible Society report came out, the Church of England has published its latest annual attendance report. In that report the Church statistician Dr Ken Eames wrote:

In April 2025 a report – The Quiet Revival – was published based on results from people who chose to complete a poll about churchgoing. Results suggested that church attendance in England and Wales had risen by 50% from 2018 to 2024, and that Church of England attendance rose by 25%.

As the Statistics for Mission figures clearly demonstrate, by almost every measure, in almost every diocese, Church of England attendance and participation was still significantly lower in 2024 than in 2018.

It would be naive to believe that the Statistics for Mission figures are accurate to the nearest person; however, I am confident that the national totals and trends calculated from the Statistics for Mission dataset are broadly accurate. I base that confidence on the high response rate, consistent methodology applied year on year, detailed church-by-church data checking, and consistency of results across variables and across dioceses.

… In approximately 12% of churches the usual Sunday attendance, average Sunday attendance, and average weekly attendance were all higher in 2024 than in 2019; in approximately 48% of churches the usual Sunday attendance, average Sunday attendance, and average weekly attendance were all lower in 2024 than in 2019.

This last point fits with the reported TikTok phenomenon of young people trying Church, or the Bible, for the first time. Of course some young people are doing these things. But the overall trend from 2018-24 is of declining attendance. (There has also been a reported growth in Bible sales, with some saying this is down to Gen Z. But they appear to be saying this because of the Bible Society report.)

The academic consensus points to decline

More and more academics are lining up to agree that Church attendance is not growing but in fact continuing to decline:

• David Voas, Emeritus Professor of Social Science at UCL – one of the country’s leading quantitative experts in religion, questioned the conclusions back in June, writing a piece for The Conversation titled ‘Is there really a religious revival in England? Why I’m sceptical of a new report’. In it he points to the various other surveys identified above showing the opposite trend to the Bible Society’s (although the 2024 BSA results weren’t yet available), and discusses limits of online panel surveys like that which the Bible Society used.

• Just before Christmas, Professor Sir John Curtice wrote a paper for NatCen Social Research (who are behind BSA), ‘Is there a religious revival in Britain?’ He looks at BSA data more in the round, including churchgoing, though doesn’t make the exact comparison with the Bible Society finding on churchgoing across six age categories that Humanists UK is now making. But he similarly concludes ‘there is little sign here of a marked religious revival among younger people’.

• And then on Friday, Conrad Hackett, Senior Demographer at the Pew Research Center, published ‘Has there been a Christian revival among young adults in the U.K.? Recent surveys may be misleading’. He shows that several online opt-in surveys (not just YouGov’s) have now found higher levels of church attendance among young adults, but that surveys based on random population samples do not agree. As well as looking at BSA data, he also considers the Labour Force Survey, which shows an overall decline in Christian identity.

• He also reports, ‘Pew Research Center studies have found that online opt-in surveys may produce especially misleading results for young adults… A Center study found that young, online opt-in respondents are much more likely to answer “Yes” in Yes/No questions, regardless of the truth. And another found 12% of young online, opt-in respondents claiming they are licensed to pilot a nuclear submarine (versus 1% of those ages 65 and older).’

And yet media reports continue to take the claims of a religious revival at face value – like one this month titled ‘How did Gen Z become the most religious generation alive?’ The notion has become so ingrained that it even featured in planning discussions in rural Norfolk, where plans to rebuild a church hall saw ‘councillors raised eyebrows over whether the modest gospel hall in Etling Grange could cope if Britain’s apparent Christian revival continues.’ One councillor asked ‘Suppose you get an influx from these newly enlivened people. Will you turn them away or will you actually grow and how will you deal with that? Is the capacity to the entrance sufficient to take an increase in the number of regular congregants?’ It was confirmed that there would be sufficient capacity so the plans were approved.

Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson commented:

‘It is clearer than ever that recent claims of a wide scale Christian revival, whether misinformation or disinformation, need to be retracted. At a time when truth in these social questions has never been more politically important, everyone has the obligation to be rigorous in their presentation of data in the public realm and the claims they make for it.’