43 percent of Netherlands residents consider themselves religious

Last year, 43 percent of Netherlands residents aged 15 or older considered themselves religious, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. They belong to a religious group like a church, mosque, or synagogue. That is about the same percentage as in the previous year.

“Although the involvement of the Dutch in religious groups was stable over the past year, a downward trend can be seen over a longer period,” CBS said. A decade ago, in 2012, more than half of the population was religious.

The majority of the Netherlands population, 57 percent, doesn’t belong to any religious group. Roman Catholics are the second largest group at 18.2 percent, 13.2 percent are Protestants, 5.6 percent are Muslims, and 5.9 percent follow a different religion.

Last year, 12 percent of Netherlands residents regularly attended a religious service at least once a month. In 2012, that was 17 percent. Protestants attend church most religiously, with 51 percent going to church at least once a month. 39 percent of Muslims regularly go to the mosque. And only 11 percent of Catholics regularly attend services.

In 2022, about 30 percent of Netherlands residents said they had confidence in religious institutions. That percentage has been low for ten years. “No other institution (such as the judiciary, police, army, etc.) receives so little trust from the population,” CBS said.