Statistikk innhold
Statistics on
Church of Norway
The annual church statistics give a summary of the Church of Norway activity in parishes/municipalities. These statistics are published at by diocese and municipality. The statistics give information about church rituals such as baptisms, confirmations, weddings, burials and church service attendance.
Selected figures from these statistics
- Church of Norway - main figuresDownload table as ...Church of Norway - main figures1
2015 2023 2024 Members of the Church of Norway (number) 3 789 371 3 472 195 3 449 013 Members of The Church of Norway as a percentage of inhabitants (per cent) 72.7 62.6 61.7 Infants baptized (number) 34 116 26 503 27 359 Baptized as a percentage of births (per cent) 57.8 51.0 50.7 Confirmed (number) 39 527 32 980 33 183 Confirmed as a percentage of persons 15-years old (per cent) 61.5 48.4 47.8 Church funerals (number) 36 797 36 112 36 073 Church burials as a percentage of all deaths (per cent) 90.4 82.4 81.5 1Figures published in March are preliminary. Final figures are published in June. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Church of Norway. Church services and participants, by dioceseDownload table as ...Church of Norway. Church services and participants, by diocese
Services total Participitations, total Church services sundays and holidays Participitations in church services sundays and holidays Church services except sundays and holidays Participitations in church services except sundays and holidays Services with communion Participants communion Christmas Eve services Participitations Christmas Eve services 2024 55 841 4 467 357 41 334 3 287 357 14 507 1 180 000 28 585 1 102 013 2 246 442 202 2023 56 606 4 341 073 42 834 3 276 938 13 772 1 064 135 28 193 1 004 940 2 270 413 286 2022 57 584 4 199 104 44 075 3 166 060 13 509 1 033 044 27 783 901 008 2 297 378 941 2021 51 280 2 360 828 40 240 1 890 875 11 040 469 953 18 800 480 505 2 211 106 388 2020 48 483 2 360 703 38 024 1 927 050 10 459 433 653 17 927 555 724 2 282 117 864 2019 60 166 5 249 069 44 803 3 994 221 15 363 1 254 848 32 627 1 311 108 2 352 539 647 2024 Oslo diocese 5 248 487 128 3 661 345 797 1 587 141 331 3 472 179 970 191 55 331 Borg diocese 6 015 477 507 4 488 349 824 1 527 127 683 3 254 127 456 246 46 114 Hamar diocese 5 255 323 489 4 111 244 619 1 144 78 870 2 591 59 114 228 35 725 Tunsberg diocese 4 829 354 676 3 563 263 107 1 266 91 569 2 568 98 267 210 42 184 Agder og Telemark diocese 6 255 538 794 4 856 411 195 1 399 127 599 2 966 142 262 244 52 302 Stavanger diocese 5 212 551 143 3 865 424 359 1 347 126 784 2 555 156 711 199 52 117 Bjørgvin diocese 7 408 605 279 5 583 456 019 1 825 149 260 3 684 134 856 316 57 157 Møre diocese 3 260 291 578 2 610 211 047 650 80 531 1 689 61 852 130 25 465 Nidaros diocese 5 403 403 510 3 536 270 147 1 867 133 363 2 222 64 933 199 35 112 Sør-Hålogaland diocese 3 162 201 287 2 424 148 760 738 52 527 1 585 33 946 137 21 043 Nord-Hålogaland diocese 3 794 232 966 2 637 162 483 1 157 70 483 1 999 42 646 146 19 652 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Church of Norway. Members and church ceremonies, by dioceseDownload table as ...Church of Norway. Members and church ceremonies, by diocese
Members of the Church of Norway Enrolled Resigned Baptized Confirmed Church weddings Church burials 2024 3 452 679 3 786 14 858 27 360 33 183 6 796 36 073 2023 3 476 211 4 026 16 722 26 603 32 980 6 405 36 112 2022 3 500 438 2 475 16 562 28 577 32 716 7 394 38 066 2021 3 526 133 2 379 14 852 27 139 33 612 4 851 35 229 2020 3 655 556 2 343 12 653 23 822 33 083 4 394 34 605 2019 3 686 715 3 353 19 037 28 011 34 513 6 214 34 765 2024 Oslo diocese 425 844 636 2 717 3 513 3 079 637 3 552 Borg diocese 454 221 464 2 114 3 137 4 166 791 5 007 Hamar diocese 286 703 189 948 1 991 2 577 570 3 792 Tunsberg diocese 319 805 410 1 550 2 174 2 575 700 3 830 Agder og Telemark diocese 310 899 645 1 263 2 505 3 135 797 3 417 Stavanger diocese 316 273 315 1 405 2 926 3 805 723 2 801 Bjørgvin diocese 445 913 402 1 728 3 793 4 803 833 4 337 Møre diocese 198 605 168 545 1 697 2 319 418 2 155 Nidaros diocese 338 336 302 1 463 2 880 3 366 595 3 076 Sør-Hålogaland diocese 178 404 137 608 1 346 1 699 362 2 144 Nord-Hålogaland diocese 174 010 118 517 1 398 1 659 370 1 962 Unknown diocese 3 666 2 6 109 0 0 0 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 21 December 2023.
Members and Affiliates
Until 2020, the variable included both members and affiliates of the Church of Norway. Starting from 2021 the variable only includes members of the Church of Norway.
Baptized
Baptized includes both infant and adult baptisms. Baptism figures from 2016 onwards show the total number of baptisms. Therefore, the number cannot be compared with previous years' indicators, as they reflected performed baptismal acts.
Marriages
Includes only church weddings performed by the Church of Norway.
Funerals
Funerals are a general term for the process that takes place when the deceased is to be buried. A funeral can take place through cremation or coffin burial.
Name: Church of Norway
Topic: Culture and recreation
Division for Education and Culture Statistics
The lowest publishing level at Statistics Norway is municipality. Data is also published for counties, KOSTRA groups, and dioceses.
The statistics are published annually and apply to the previous year.
Publication at the municipality, county, and KOSTRA group levels in connection with KOSTRA publication occurs with preliminary figures on March 15 and final figures on June 15.
Publication at the diocese level takes place on June 15.
Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.
Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.
The purpose of the statistics is to provide information about the activities in the parishes of the Church of Norway. The Church of Norway National Council is the principal and finances the statistics.
Older history and statistics can be found on the Church of Norway's website, statistics from 1950 "Kirken i tall" (NO, kirken.no).
From 1998 up to and including the statistical year 2004 the annual statistics were collected on paper forms by Norwegian Center for Research Data and published in the Ecclesiastical Database. Church statistics in the Church Database are published at the parish level.
Starting from the statistical year 2005, reporting of the Annual Statistics for the Church of Norway is done electronically using the KOSTRA form to Statistics Norway.
Important users of the church statistics is the Ministry of Culture, Church of Norway National Council, other organisations related to the Church of Norway, as well as for researchers and media.
No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.
Church statistics are also relevant in connection with other statistics in Statistics Norway. Such as the statistics for Religious communities and life stance communities, Church account statistics for the joint parish councils and the Employment statistics.
The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).
The statistics are part of the national program for official statistics 2024–2027, main area Culture and Leisure, sub-area Religion and Beliefs.
Law of April 24, 2020, No. 31 on religious and belief communities (Religious Communities Act).
This statistics includes all geographical parishes in the Church of Norway, not included Svalbard. The statistics do not include church affairs aboard or at institutions as hosptital and prisons, the church for the deaf, army chaplains and others having their own registers. Every parochial church council in cooperation with the vicar is responsible for reporting the data. The reporting unit is the parishes. The annual statistics include information on the number of baptisms, confirmations, enrolments and resignations of Church membership, number of services, congregation numbers, communicant numbers, collection takings, activities for children and teenagers, diaconal and ecumenical work in the parishes, cultural work etc. The main point of the statistics is the activity that the vicars, the parochial church council and the employed are responsible to.
The reporting unit for the statistics is the parishes. The observation unit is also the parishes. The analysis unit is the municipality, county, KOSTRA group, and diocese.
Data Sources
Data are primarily collected through the KOSTRA form 28, Annual Statistics for the Church of Norway. The statistics also utilize data from the Business and Enterprise Register, Municipal Accounts, Religious and Belief Communities outside the Church of Norway, and the membership register of the Church of Norway. Data from the Church of Norway's membership register are collected at the municipal level and do not contain personally sensitive information.
Sampling
Complete count. The statistics are a census among all geographic parishes registered in the Business and Enterprise Register in the relevant reporting year.
In recent years, there has been a slight decrease in the number of units in the statistics. The reason for the reduction in units in the statistics is due to parish mergers, partly permanent mergers, and partly experimental arrangements. All parishes have reported in recent years.
Data Collection
Electronic forms are submitted to Statistics Norway from each parish. The reporting period begins in early January, and the reporting deadline is January 20 or the first working day after this date. Corrections to submitted data and any late submissions can occur until the publication of preliminary figures (March 15) and final figures (June 15).
Editing
Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data.
The electronic forms have several built-in checks during registration, including logical checks and checks against the previous year's reporting. After Statistics Norway receives the form, the information is verified and edited at Statistics Norway before compilation and publication.
Calculations
The statistics on the Church of Norway are a summary complete count of the parishes under the Church of Norway. Beyond summarizing the reports and ensuring that all parishes are included in the calculations, no specific analyses are conducted.
Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.
Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.
Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.
More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.
During the transition of reporting to Statistics Norway in 2005, a new form was developed. The new form includes developments and simplifications of question formulations, which may result in some differences compared to previously recorded statistics. For instance, in the new form, it is generally expected that religious ceremonies should be registered only in the parish where the ceremony took place. This may have some impact at the municipal level, but at the national level, there will be better continuity. Some information from the old form has been omitted, and new information has been added. The most important details in the form have been retained to ensure continuity from the previous statistics.
The Church of Norway adopted a new digital tool for membership registration and withdrawal in 2016. This led to high numbers of withdrawals in 2016.
The affiliation arrangement was discontinued with the introduction of the Law of April 24, 2020, No. 31 on religious and belief communities (Religious Communities Act). Therefore, affiliated individuals are not considered in the membership figures from the 2021 data onwards, which may affect the comparability of the statistics over time.
Coverage Errors
There is a low risk of over- or under-coverage. The Joint parish councils, accounts, and the Church of Norway National Council assist in creating and quality-checking the population under investigation.
Measurement and Processing Errors
There is some risk of measurement errors. Some questions in the form that parishes fill out may have ambiguities and can be interpreted differently between units. Continuous efforts are made to improve the form and reduce the likelihood of measurement errors. The form is developed in collaboration with the Church Council and the rest of the KOSTRA working group for churches and cemeteries (NO).
There is a low risk of processing errors because we receive the data electronically for each unit. Additionally, parishes can be contacted to verify the submitted data.
For data from the Church of Norway's membership register, the data is considered to be of good quality.
Dropout Errors
There is a risk of dropout errors as sometimes some parishes do not submit responses. Nevertheless, the dropout error is low, as units that have not submitted responses are contacted and asked to submit. There is very little partial dropout, as most questions in the form are mandatory to answer before the unit has the opportunity to submit. Dropout can be considered as a sampling error.
Sampling Error
Because this is a complete count of all parishes under the Church of Norway, dropout errors can be considered as sampling errors.
A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway’s principles for revisions.
Tilhørighet og medlemskap (NO, kirken.no)