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Published:
This is an archived release.
Slight increase in registered religious communities
During 2001 memberships to religious and philosophical communities other than to the Church of Norway increased. The number of members has risen by about 11 800 to just above 374 200.
At 1 January 2002 about 277 300 persons were members of registered religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway. 27 000 were members of unregistered communities and 69 800 of the secular Human Ethical Union. All figures are from communities receiving central government subsidies.
Increase in the members of The Pentecostal congregations
The memberships in the Pentecostal congregations have been stable for many years. At 1 January the congregations had about 46 000 members, an increase just above 4 per cent during 2001. 44 000 were members in registered communities and 1 400 in unregistered communities. The members are distributed in 243 congregations.
The Roman Catholic Church in Norway had a steady rise in memberships. Since 1990 about 17 000 new members were registered. The Roman Catholic Church received state subsidies for about 43 200 members in 2002.
The Muslim communities receiving state subsides have 109 Muslim congregations with just above 70 000 members. About 68 000 were members of registered communities, while about 2 300 members of unregistered communities. The rise in the number of Muslims was just above 12 per cent from January 2001. 76 per cent of the members were registered in the county of Oslo and Akershus.
Slight decrease in the Human Ethical Union
The Human Ethical Union counted 69 800 members receiving state subsidies at 1 January 2002, a decrease slightly less than 1 per cent compared with 2000. The Human Ethical Union has local chapters in every county, but most of the members live in the counties of Oslo and Akershus, where nearly 26 000 were members of 16 local chapters.
42 per cent belong to the counties of Oslo and Akershus
Almost 42 per cent of the members in religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway were still registered in Oslo and Akershus. This number accounted for 158 members per 1 000 inhabitants in these two counties, while for the entire population the number was approximately 83 members per 1 000 inhabitants. The county of Vest-Agder had 130 members per 1 000 inhabitants registered in religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway, while the corresponding number for Sogn og Fjordane in Western Norway was the lowest with only 17 members per 1 000 inhabitants
The Church of Norway- a slight increase in confirmations
Church of Norway statistics for 2001showed that the number of confirmations by the Church was
37 400, a slight increase of about 0.5 per cent. The diocese of Oslo had the greatest rise, 5 per cent more confirmations than in 2000. The number of marriages performed by the Church has declined throughout the entire country the last year. 12 100 marriages were performed by the church in 2001, compared with 14 000 in 2000. During 2001 a total of 46 100 persons were baptized in the Church of Norway. Outside Oslo this number represents about 88 per cent of those born in Norway this year.
Fewer people resigned and more were enrolled
Approximately 3 800 people resigned from the Church of Norway in 2001, a decrease of about 14 per cent compared with 2000. About 1 200 enrolled in 2001. The corresponding number in 2000 was 800. The latest statistics for the Church of Norway showed that the total number of members amounted to more than 3.9 million equivalent to about 86 per cent of the population. In Oslo about 72 per cent of the population were members of the Church of Norway, while the corresponding number for Sogn og Fjordane was just less than 94 per cent.
Tables:
- Table 1 Members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway. 1971-2002. Numbers and per cent
- Table 2 Church of Norway. Church events and members of the Church of Norway, by diocese. 1995-2001
- Table 3 Congregations and members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway, by county. 1 January 2002
- Table 4 Congregations and members of religious and philosophical communities outside the Church of Norway, by county. 1 January 2002
Additional information
The statistics include members of religious and life stance communities based on annual applications for central government subsidies. Some communities do not apply for subsidies every year. Due to this fact, the number of members in some categories varies some years. Some communities never apply for subsidies.
Contact
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Andreas Østhus
E-mail: andreas.osthus@ssb.no
tel.: (+47) 47 64 99 08
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Andrea Ihler Evensen
E-mail: andreaihler.evensen@ssb.no
tel.: (+47) 93 06 06 87