B2.3.6 New Zealand: Religions
Description
This article is from the New Zealand FAQ, by Phil Stuart-Jones and Lin Nah with numerous contributions by others.
B2.3.6 New Zealand: Religions
A Massey research project reveals that 28 percent of Kiwis pray, at
frequencies varying between several times a day, to weekly. About 21
percent of the population are regular churchgoers. The radio report on the
topic said that over 60 percent of NZers believe in a God.
And/or...
1991 census: (%)
Anglican 22.1
Presbyterian 16.3
Catholic 15.0
Methodist 4.2
Agnostic 0.1
Atheist <0.05
No religion 20.1
Object to state 7.6
In 1981 (and I presume earlier censuses) there was simply a blank where you
wrote your religion. In 1986 and 1991, there were half a dozen or so boxes
you could tick, including "No Religion" and "Other" (with a blank space to
fill in if you ticked "Other"). In 1981, Agnostic and Atheist accounted
for 0.8 and 0.7%, so clearly many people who would write "Atheist" when
confronted with a blank space would tick "No Religion" when such a box was
an option. (I did this myself in 1986.)
In 1986, "No Religion" got 16.7%, so this is growing fast, and is the
second largest group. (It was less than 1% in the 1950s.)
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