A new analysis of British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey data by Humanists UK has found that church attendance in Britain continues to decline, including among Gen Z, contradicting recent claims of a religious revival.
The findings challenge a widely reported Bible Society report based on YouGov polling, which suggested churchgoing had risen sharply between 2018 and 2024, particularly among young people. Humanists UK says the BSA survey, regarded as the gold standard of UK social research, shows the opposite trend, with Gen Z remaining the least likely generation to attend church.
Unlike the YouGov poll, the BSA uses probability-based random sampling and publishes its full datasets. According to Humanists UK, this makes its findings more reliable. The BSA data aligns with other major surveys, including the British Election Study, which also indicates a long-term decline in regular church attendance.
Official figures from the Church of England and the Catholic Church support this conclusion. While attendance has increased slightly since the pandemic, it remains well below pre-2019 levels. Church of England statistician Dr Ken Eames said most dioceses continued to see lower attendance in 2024 than in 2018.
Humanists UK has called on the Bible Society to retract its claims, warning that misleading interpretations of survey data have fuelled inaccurate media narratives about a supposed Christian revival.
You can read more about the surveys HERE