Religious communities and life stance communities, 1 January 2004

Registered religious communities outside the Church of Norway had 301 000 members in 2003, an increase of more than 16 000. In addition, about 27 000 were members of unregistered religious communities, a decrease of 5 000. Philosophical communities counted more than 70 000.

About 5.6 per cent of the population are not members of the Church of Norway or other religious and philosophical communities.

Registered religious communities

Islamic communities are the largest of the registered communities in Norway. In 2004, the 82 Islamic congregations counted almost 78 000 members. The Roman Catholic Church has 46 000 members and 32 congregations, whereas the 233 Pentecostal congregations have 46 000 members in total.

Unregistered religious communities

Foreign Evangelical communities in Norway is the largest group of unregistered communities with close to 16 000 members. Other large unregistered communities include the Free Evangelical Congregations with about 4 000 members and 30 congregations, and Islamic communities with about 3 000 members and 10 congregations.

Members of the Church of Norway

As of 1 January 2004, the Church of Norway had 3.9 million members. This represents 85.7 per cent of the population and is an increase of 0.6 per cent, or 22 203 members, since 1 January 2003.

Baptism and confirmation

Church of Norway statistics for 2003 shows that close to 44 000 were baptised that year, a slight decrease from 2002. The figure represents 77.7 per cent of those born in Norway in 2003, and the corresponding figure for 2002 was 79.5 per cent. The number of confirmations was 40 183 in 2003, an increase of 1 933, or 5 per cent, compared with 2002.

Church marriages

The number of church marriages was 11 440 in 2003 and has fallen by about 10 per cent since 2002.

Tables:

• Table 1 Members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway. 1990-2004. Numbers and per cent
• Table 2 Church of Norway. Church events and members of the Church of Norway, by diocese. 1995-2003
• Table 3 Congregations and members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway, by county. 1 January 2004
• Table 4 Congregations and members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway, by county. 1 January 2004