Most Scots have no religion, Census finds

The Church of Scotland remains the largest religious group but its numbers have halved since 2001 from 42.4% to just 20.4% in the latest census.

The next largest religious groups were Roman Catholic (13.3%), “Other Christian” (5.1%) and “Muslim” (2.2%).

The percentage of people with no religion has increased across all age groups since the 2011 census.

Young people are more likely to say they have no religion than people in older age groups but the number of people in the over-65 age group with no religion has more than doubled since 2011 – an increase of 186,700 people.

“No religion” was the most common response in every council area in Scotland except in Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) and Inverclyde.

In the Western Isles “Church of Scotland” (35.3%) was the most common response but no religion increased to 29.9%.

In Inverclyde “Roman Catholic” (33.4%) was the most common response.