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Published:
This is an archived release.
Steady decline in number of church baptisms
A total of 35 100 persons were baptised by the Church of Norway in 2014. This number represents a fall of 4.2 per cent compared to the previous year. During the last four years, the number of baptisms declined by 15 per cent.
2014 | Change last 4 years | |
---|---|---|
3 835 973 | 496 | |
74.3 | -3.7 | |
Baptized | 35 051 | -6 049 |
Baptized as a percentage of births | 59.3 | -7.6 |
Confirmed | 40 253 | -1 728 |
Confirmed as a percentage of persons 15-years old | 62.9 | -2.4 |
Church burials | 36 430 | -1 860 |
Church burials as a percentage of all deaths | 90.2 | -2.1 |
Church weddings | 8 006 | -1 543 |
Church services | 63 022 | -2 630 |
Participants in church services total | 5 892 110 | -208 875 |
Participants per church service | 93.5 | 0.6 |
The number of church baptisms has the same declining trend as previous years. A total of 35 100 baptisms were held by the Church of Norway in 2014; 1 500 fewer than the year before. The proportion of baptisms to births was 59 per cent; a fall from 62 per cent in 2013. The proportion of baptism to births has fallen every year since 2008.
A total of 43 000 youths were confirmed by the Church of Norway in 2014. This number represents a slight increase compared to the previous year, and shows that 63 per cent of 15 year-olds still prefer a church confirmation. In 2014, the number of confirmations shows a slight increase. In spite of this rise, the proportion of 15 year-olds confirmed was 63 per cent in 2014; one percentage point lower compared to 2013.
A total of just below 6 million persons attended services held by the Church of Norway. On average, 93 attended each service; the same as the years before. A total of 63 000 services were held; about 980 fewer than the year before.
Fewer parishes reportingOpen and readClose
The population covers all the registered geographical parishes in Norway during the relevant year. The parish is the basic unit in the Church of Norway. The number of parishes reporting in 2013 was 1 235. The number has fallen every year in recent years due to the merging of parishes.
Additional information
The statistics presents information bases on the yearly scheme for the Church of Norway. Publishing of more numeric variables is every 15th of March and 15th of June.
Contact
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Øyvind Bolsgård
E-mail: oyvind.bolsgard@ssb.no
tel.: (+47) 40 81 13 63
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Andreas Østhus
E-mail: andreas.osthus@ssb.no
tel.: (+47) 47 64 99 08