Religious communities and life stance communities, 1 January 2000

As of 1 January 2000 religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway had a total of nearly 355 000 members, of which 255 000 were members of registered religious communities, 32 000 of unregistered religious communities and 68 000 of the secular Human Ethical Union. Altogether, these communities have increased their membership by 19 000 since 1999.

More Muslims and Catholics

The biggest increase in registered religious communities was enjoyed by the Islamic communities and the Roman Catholic Church, which saw increases of 30 400 and 16 000 respectively since 1990. At the start of 2000 the Islamic communities accounted for the largest religious community outside the Church of Norway, with nearly 50 000 members. In addition, there were 6 800 members of unregistered communities. Pentecostal congregations were the second largest with 45 000 members, while the Roman Catholic Church had 42 600 members.

Fewer in Human Ethical Union

Although membership of the Human Ethical Union has increased by 18 500 members, 37 per cent, in the last 10 years, their numbers have dropped by 300 since 1 January 1999. While the Human Ethical Union has local chapters in every county, most of its members more than 25 000, in 17 local chapters live in Oslo and Akershus county.

Geographical differences

There are large geographical differences with respect to whether people are members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway. In Oslo, 14 per cent are members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway. The corresponding figure for Sogn og Fjordane in western Norway is only one per cent.

Church of Norway

Church of Norway statistics for 1999 showed that 48 000 were baptized, 37 400 confirmed and 12 700 couples joined in holy matrimony. In the course of 1999 a total of 4 400 people resigned from the Church of Norway, while 900 enrolled. Total membership was more than 3.8 million, equivalent to about 86 per cent of the population. The number of marriages performed by the Church of Norway in 1999 fell by more than three per cent compared with last year, while the decline in the number of baptized and confirmed was one per cent compared with 1998.

Tables:

• Table 1 Members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway. 1971-2000. Numbers and per cent
• Table 2 Church of Norway. Church events and members of the Church of Norway, by diocese. 1995-1999
• Table 3 Congregations and members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway, by county. 1 January 2000.