What percentage of British are atheist?

The British Social Attitudes poll of more than 3,000 people showed 44% said they had no religious affiliation. This compares with less than 10% in the United States. Two-thirds of 18-24 year-olds in the UK also say they have no religious affiliation. However, these figures would include agnostics, as well as atheists.

(Actually 15% of Americans say they have no religious affiliation.)

AnswerThe above statistics are very interesting, and are probably more accurate than these, which I include for interest. The 2001 census found that about half the population of England and Wales (note: *not* the whole of the UK) said that they were Christian. However, membership of The Church Of England is a well known euphamism in the UK for being agnostic or atheist, and many people still identify with the church for cultural reasons - regardless of their actual beliefs.

7.7% of the population did not answer the question, and 0.7% of the population (390,000 people) claimed to be Jedi - making Jedi a larger religion in the UK than Hinduism.

7.7 million people in England and Wales stated that they have no religion - 14.6% in England, and 18.5% in wales).

Most commentators believe that those figures are well below the true numbers, mainly because of the membership of the Church Of England.