Religion in Scotland

Religion in Scotland
Eras Overview Prehistoric Medieval Reformation 17th century 18th century 19th century Contemporary
Events Christianisation Cum universi Reformation Parliament Five Articles of Perth National Covenant Solemn League and Covenant Westminster Confession The Killing Time Glorious Revolution Marrow Controversy Patronage Act 1711 First Secession Second Secession Great Disruption of 1843 Catholic emancipation Tell Scotland Movement
Topics Evangelical revival Freedom of religion Missions Music Popular religion Saints Sectarianism
Extant Christian denominations Associated Presbyterian Churches Baptist Union of Scotland Church of Scotland Congregational Federation Eastern Orthodoxy Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland International Presbyterian Church Latter-day Saints Methodist Church of Great Britain Oriental Orthodoxy Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland Roman Catholic Church Salvation Army Scottish Episcopal Church United Free Church of Scotland United Reformed Church
Historic Christian denominations Old and New Lights Anti-Burgher movement Associate Presbytery Bereans Buchanites Catholic Apostolic Church Evangelical Union Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900) Glasites Original Secession Church Relief Church United Presbyterian Church United Secession Church
Christian ecumenism Action of Churches Together in Scotland Iona Community Scottish Bible Society Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office
Non-Christian faiths Baháʼí Faith Buddhism Hinduism Islam Judaism council Paganism (modern) Sikhism
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As of the 2022 census, None was the largest category of belief in Scotland, chosen by 51.1% of the Scottish population identifying when asked: "What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?"^[1] This represented an increase from the 2011 figure of 36.7%. 38.8% identified as Christian with most of them declaring affiliation with the Church of Scotland (52.5% of Christians; 20.4% of the total population) and the Catholic Church (34.3% of Christians; 13.3% of the total population). The only other religious persuasions with more than 1% affiliation were 'Other Christian' and Muslim at 5.1% and 2.2% of the total population, respectively.

The Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian denomination often known as The Kirk, is recognised in law as the national church of Scotland. It is not an established church and is independent of state control. The Catholic Church is especially important in West Central Scotland and parts of the Highlands. Scotland's third largest church is the Scottish Episcopal Church.^[2] There are also multiple smaller Presbyterian churches, all of which either broke away from the Church of Scotland or themselves separated from churches which previously did so. The 2019 Scottish Household survey had a rate of the proportion of adults reporting not belonging to a religion of 56%. The trend of declining religious belief coincided with a sharp decrease since 2009 in the proportion of people who report that they belong to the Church of Scotland, from 34% to 20% of adults.

Other religions have established a presence in Scotland, mainly through immigration and higher birth rates among ethnic minorities. Those with the most adherents in the 2022 census are Islam (2.2%, up from 1.4% in 2011), Hinduism (0.6%), Buddhism (0.3%) and Sikhism (0.2%). Minority faiths include Modern Paganism and the Baháʼí Faith. There are also various organisations which actively promote humanism and secularism. Since 2016, humanists have conducted more weddings in Scotland each year than either the Catholic Church, Church of Scotland, or any other religion and by 2022 the number of humanist marriages outnumbered all religious ceremonies combined.^[3][4]