One in Two EU Citizens Find Religion Important
by Wolfgang Polzer
February 27, 2007
LUXEMBOURG (ANS) -- Religion is important to more than one in two EU citizens. In a recent survey conducted by the statistical agency of the European Union, Eurostat (Luxembourg), 53 percent regarded religion as a significant element of their lives.
Approximately 46 percent of the 27,000 interviewees in the 27 EU member countries attach no importance to religion. But as about three quarters of the 453.6 million EU citizens claim affiliation with a religious community this means that at least one in four are only nominal members.
About 49.5 percent of all EU citizens are Catholics, 12.7 percent Protestants, 8.6 percent Orthodox, 15.7 percent Muslims, 0.4 percent Jews and 25.4 percent non-religious.
The Eurostat survey found significant differences between individual member states. Religion is most important to the Maltese (88 percent), Poles (87 percent) as well as Cypriots, Greeks and Romanians (86 percent each).
By contrast more than 70 percent of the population in Belgium and the Czech Republic regard religion as insignificant.
In Germany the old East-West-divide is still reflected in religious attitudes. Whereas 53 percent of the population in the West say that religion is important, the figure is only 26 percent in the former Communist East.
On the whole European women are more religious than men. Religion means a lot to 58 percent of the women but only 45 percent of the men.
