Religion in Sweden

Side view of Uppsala Cathedral, the headquarters of the Church of Sweden

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Religion in Sweden has, over the years, become increasingly diverse. Christianity was the religion of virtually all of the Swedish population from the 12th to the early 20th century, but it has rapidly declined throughout the late 20th and early 21st century.^[1]

Christianity came to Sweden as early as the 9th century mainly as a result of an expansion in trade. The ancient

In recent years, the Swedish religious landscape has become increasingly diverse, with Christians comprising in 2020 some 61.3% (of which 55.2% belonging to the Church of Sweden) of the total population and rising numbers of people of other religions and people who do not belong to any church (34.8%).[1] The Lutheran Church of Sweden – which was the state religion until 2000 – is by far the largest Christian denomination but is facing a continuous decline in registered membership down to 53,9 % of the total population in 2021^[2][4] Other minor Christian denominations include Free churches, the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches,^[1] while members of other religions are mostly Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Jews.^[1]

History

Historical Norse religion

Gamla Uppsala

, the centre of worship in Sweden until the temple was destroyed in the late 11th century.

The historical Vadstena Abbey of the Catholic order of the Bridgettines, founded by Bridget of Sweden

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Pre-Reformation Swedish Catholic religious leaders – including Bridget of Sweden, founder of the continuously functioning Catholic Vadstena Abbey – continue to be held in high regard by the population as a whole. Her nunnery at Vadstena is one of Sweden's pre-eminent tourist attractions.

16th century: Protestant Reformation; conversion to Lutheranism

Ruins of Alvastra Abbey in Ödeshög

. Various ruined medieval Catholic monasteries such as this one stand as testimonies of the appropriation of Catholic properties by the Swedish state during the Protestant Reformation.

The move put Charles at odds with the heir to the throne, his nephew Sigismund, who was raised in the Catholic faith. Although Sigismund promised to uphold Lutheranism, Duke Charles's aspirations to power led to the War against Sigismund, a power struggle that was effectively decided at the Battle of Stångebro in 1598, in favour of Charles and Protestantism.

During the era following the

In order to curb Pietism, several royal decrees and parliament acts were issued in the 18th century, such as the Conventicle Act and Kyrkogångsplikt lit. 'church attendance duty'. They forbade Swedish citizens to engage in practices other than mandatory Lutheran Sunday Mass and daily family devotions. Without the presence of a Lutheran clergyman, public religious gatherings were forbidden. It remained illegal until 1860 for Lutheran Swedes to convert to another confession or religion.

19th–20th century: Liberalisation of all religions

In 1860 it became legal to leave the Church of Sweden for the purpose of becoming a member of another officially recognised religious denomination. From 1951, it became legal to leave the church, without providing any reason. From 1951 to 1977 all religious institutions could only be established with the permission of the Crown.

Demographics

A temple of Chinese Buddhism in Rosersberg, Stockholm

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Church of Scientology in Malmö

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The constitution of Sweden provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. The government at all levels seeks to protect this right in full and does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors. The rights and freedoms enumerated in the constitution include the rights to practice one's religion and protection of religious freedom. The laws concerning religious freedoms are generally observed and enforced at all government levels and by the courts in a non-discriminatory fashion. Legal protections cover discrimination or persecution by private actors.[10]

In the early 2000s about 80% of Swedes belonged to the Church of Sweden. By the end of 2020, this figure had fallen to 55.2%.

Eight recognized religious denominations, in addition to the Church of Sweden, raise revenues through member-contributions made through the national tax system. All recognized denominations are entitled to direct government financial support, contributions made through the national tax system, or a mix of both. Certain Christian holidays are national holidays. School students from minority religious backgrounds are entitled to take relevant religious holidays.[10] No recognition or registration is required to carry out religious activity. Religious groups that want to receive government aid may apply for it.^[10]

Education about all major world religions is compulsory in public schools. Parents may send their children to religious charter schools, all of which receive school vouchers, provided they adhere to government guidelines on core academic curriculum.^[10] The Office of the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination investigates claims of discrimination "due to race, skin color, national or ethnic origin, or religion". Discrimination on religious grounds is illegal, including discrimination in the work place and in the provision of public and private services.^[10]

Surveys

In 2017, the Pew Research Center found in their Global Attitudes Survey that 59.9% of the Swedes regarded themselves as Christians, with 48.7% belonging to the Church of Sweden, 9.5% were Unaffiliated Christians, 0.7% were Pentecostal Protestants, 0.4% were Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox and the Congregationalist were the 0.3% each. Unaffiliated people were the 35.0% divided in 18.8% Atheists, 11.9% nothing in particular and 4.3% Agnostics. Muslims were the 2.2% and members of other religions were the 2.5%.^[11]

In 2016 the International Social Survey Programme found that 70.2% of the Swedish population declared belonging to a Christian denomination, with the Church of Sweden being the largest church, accounting for the 65.8% of respondents; the Free Church was the second-largest church accounting for 2.8%, Roman Catholics were 0.7% and Eastern Orthodox were 0.5%; members of other Christian denominations comprised 0.4% of the total population. A further 28.5% declared no religion, 1.1% identified as Muslim and 0.3% declared belonging to other religions.^[12]

In 2015 the Eurobarometer found that Christianity was the religion of 47.6% of respondents, with Protestantism being the main denomination with 36.5%, followed by other Christians with 8.6%, Catholics with 1.6% and Eastern Orthodox with 0.8%. 31.0% of the sample identified as agnostic and 19.0% identified as atheist.^[13]

Christianity

In 2020 there were 6,364,093 formally affiliated Christians in Sweden, comprising 61.3% of the total population.^[1][2]

A survey by the Pew Research Center found in spring 2016 that 66.7% out of a sample of 1,000 Swedes claimed to be Christians.^[14]

As of 2016, 6,484,203 people, or 64.9% of the total population, were registered members of the various Protestant denominations in Sweden.^[15][2]

Church of Sweden

Umeå City Church

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Church of Sweden statistics^[8][16]

Year	Population	Church members	Percentage	% change (avg.)
1972	8,146,000	7,754,784	95.2%
1975	8,208,000	7,770,881	94.7%	0.2%
1980	8,278,000	7,690,636	92.9%	0.3%
1985	8,358,000	7,629,763	91.5%	0.3%
1990	8,573,000	7,630,350	89.0%	0.5%
1995	8,837,000	7,601,194	86.0%	0.6%
2000	8,880,000	7,360,825	82.9%	0.6%
2005	9,048,000	6,967,498	77.0%	1.2%
2010	9,415,570	6,589,769	70.0%	1.4%
2015	9,850,452	6,225,091	63.2%	1.4%
2016	9,995,153	6,109,546	61.1%	2.1%
2017	10,120,242	5,993,368	59.3%	1.8%
2018	10,230,185	5,899,242	57.7%	1.6%
2019	10,327,579	5,823,515	56.4%	1.3%
2020	10,379,295	5,728,746	55.2%	1.6%
2021	10,452,326	5,633,867	53.9%	1.3%
2022	10,536,649	5,563,351	52.8%	1.1%

Representing about half of the population, the Church of Sweden (Swedish: Svenska kyrkan) is the largest Christian church in Sweden, and also the largest religious body. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. As of 2021 it had 5,633,867 members, 53,9 % of the Swedish population,^[17][2] although surveys show different figures, ranging from 24%^[18] to 52.1%.^[14] to 67.3%.^[19] Until 2000 it held the position of state religion, and most Swedes were baptised at birth, until 1996 all newborns with at least one parent being a member of the Church of Sweden were also registered as members of the church.^[20] Yet the membership is declining rapidly, about 1% each year, for the most recent years even 2%, falling from 95% in 1972 and 82% in 2000. The number of both new baptisms and members has declined since. Indeed, according to official statistics, as of 2021:

• About 1 out of 3 (35.2%) children are christened in the Church of Sweden.^[21]
• About 1 out of 4 (23.5%) weddings take place in church.^[21]
• About 2 out of 3 (66.8%) Swedes have Christian burials.^[21]

The Church of Sweden, by law,^[22] is organized in the following manner:

• It is an Evangelical Lutheran community of faith manifested in parishes and dioceses. The church also has a national organisation.
• It is an open national church which, working with a democratic organisation and through the ministry of the church, covers the whole nation.
• The primate of the Church of Sweden is the Archbishop of Uppsala.

Other Protestant denominations

The 19th century saw the arrival of various evangelical free churches, and, towards the end of the century secularism, leading many to distance themselves from church rituals. Leaving the Church of Sweden became legal with the so-called Dissenter Act of 1860, but only under the provision of entering another denomination. The right to not belong to any religious denomination was established in the law on freedom of religion in 1951.

Today, the