Fall in Church of Norway members
Published:
The Church of Norway had approximately 3.8 million members in 2016. This is 41 000 fewer than the previous year and 90 000 fewer than four years ago.
- Full set of figures
- Church of Norway
- Series archive
- Church of Norway (archive)
The steady decline in the number of church attendances registered in recent years continues. Around 4.4 million attended services on Sundays and public holidays, while almost 1.3 million attended services on other days.
- See more figures and tables from the statistics Church of Norway
Figure 1. Church of Norway. Participants at church services
Participants services except Sundays and holidays | Participants services Sundays and holidays | |
2005 | 1327 | 5389 |
2006 | 1292 | 5291 |
2007 | 1254 | 5177 |
2008 | 1261 | 5069 |
2009 | 1256 | 4968 |
2010 | 1204 | 4896 |
2011 | 1280 | 4985 |
2012 | 1245 | 4767 |
2013 | 1230 | 4723 |
2014 | 1224 | 4668 |
2015 | 1206 | 4564 |
2016 | 1267 | 4419 |
The number of baptisms and confirmations also showed a decline. This publication uses a new definition for baptisms and is not compatible with previous figures.
Figure 2. Church of Norway. Baptized and confirmed
Baptized | Confirmed | |
2005 | 43016 | 42110 |
2006 | 43255 | 42587 |
2007 | 42916 | 42472 |
2008 | 42599 | 41655 |
2009 | 41920 | 41885 |
2010 | 41100 | 41981 |
2011 | 39958 | 42556 |
2012 | 38325 | 41165 |
2013 | 36572 | 40054 |
2014 | 35051 | 40253 |
2015 | 34116 | 39523 |
2016 | 32561 | 37420 |
In 2016, church burials as a percentage of all deaths were 88.8 per cent, compared to 89.7 per cent four years ago. A total of 7 535 church weddings were performed in 2016, which is 1 363 fewer than four years ago.
Contact
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Øyvind Bolsgård
-
Statistics Norway's Information Centre