Fewer residents of Bedford identify as Christian

Fewer people identify as Christian and more people are non-religious in Bedford than a decade ago, new census figures show.

Humanists UK ran campaigns in the lead up to the censuses in 2011 and 2021 encouraging non-religious people to select "no religion". The organisation said the recent figures should be a "wake-up call" for reconsidering the role religion has in society.

Office for National Statistics data from the 2021 census shows 48% of people in Bedford selected Christianity as their religion, down significantly from 59% in the last survey a decade before.

About 34% selected "no religion" last year, a leap from 24% in 2011.

Of these, 69 people said they were agnostic, while 30 selected atheism.

The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell said: "It’s not a great surprise that the census shows fewer people in this country identifying as Christian than in the past, but it still throws down a challenge to us not only to trust that God will build his kingdom on Earth but also to play our part in making Christ known."

Nationally, there were increases in the proportion of people describing themselves as Muslim, with 6.5% selecting the religion last year, up from 4.9% in the previous census. More people also identified as Hindu, increasing from 1.5% in 2011 to 1.7% in 2021.

The figures show more people in Bedford identify as Muslim, with 13,059 selecting the religion last year, up from 8,610 in 2011.

Additionally, 3,045 residents said they were Hindu in the survey, up from 2,420 10 years ago.

There were 629 Buddhists and 232 residents who selected Judaism.

Of the other options, 256 said they were pagans and 20 said they practice Heathenism.

The National Secular Society said the figures show that aspects of society such as the Anglican establishment and daily prayers and worship in parliament and schools, are “all inappropriate, hopelessly outdated and fail to reflect the country we actually live in” and called for reform.

Stephen Evans said, the society's chief executive, said: “It’s official – we are no longer a Christian country.”