Religion in Denmark

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates

File:Roskilde Cathedral aerial.jpg
Roskilde Cathedral has been the burial place of Danish royalty since the 15th century. In 1995 it became a World Heritage Site.

Christianity is the largest religion in Denmark. As of 2024, 71.2% of the population of Denmark were registered members of the Church of Denmark (Script error: No such module "Lang".),[1] the officially established church, which is Protestant in classification and Lutheran in orientation.[2][notes 1]

Religiosity

According to a Eurobarometer poll conducted in 2010,[3] 28% of Danish citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", 47% responded that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 24% responded that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". Another poll, carried out in 2008, found that 25% of Danes believe Jesus is the son of God, and 18% believe he is a messenger of the God and saviour of the world but not son of God.[4] A Gallup report in 2009 found that only 19% of Danes consider religion to be an important part of their life.[5]

Just under 20% of the Danish population identifies as atheist as of 2013.[6]

Christianity

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Church of Denmark[7][8]
Year Population Members Percentage
1984 5,113,500 4,684,060 91.6%
1990 5,135,409 4,584,450 89.3%
2000 5,330,500 4,536,422 85.1%
2005 5,413,600 4,498,703 83.3%
2010 5,534,738 4,479,214 80.9%
2015 5,659,715 4,400,754 77.8%
2016 5,707,251 4,387,571 76.9%
2017 5,748,769 4,361,518 75.9%
2018 5,781,190 4,352,507 75.3%
2019 5,806,081 4,339,511 74.7%
2020 5,822,763 4,327,018 74.3%
2024 5,967,824 4,246,873 71.2%

Christianity is the predominant religion of Denmark, with three quarters of the Danish population estimated as adherents of the "Folkekirken" ("People's Church"), Denmark's national Lutheran church.[9] Aside from Lutheranism, there is a small Catholic minority, as well as small Protestant denominations such as the Baptist Union of Denmark and the Reformed Synod of Denmark.

File:Grundtvigskirken-vest-2005-3.jpg
Grundtvig's Church in Copenhagen

According to official statistics from January 2019, 74.7%[10][11] of the population of Denmark are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark (Script error: No such module "Lang".), the country's state church since the Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein, which is designated "the Danish people's church" by the 1848 Constitution of Denmark.[12] Among those who report Danish ancestry (as opposed to persons of recent immigrant descent), there has been a decline in the proportion who are members of the National Church, from approx. 90% in 1985 to 75.9% in 2017.[13]

There are around 8,000 Christians who have converted from a Muslim background in the country, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism.[14]

Historical statistics

Census results (1840–1860)

Religion 1840[15] 1845[15] 1850[15] 1855[15] 1860[15]
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Church of Denmark 1,277,402 Template:Pct 1,344,955 Template:Pct 1,400,955 Template:Pct 1,489,269 Template:Pct 1,587,644 Template:Pct
Judaism 3,839 Template:Pct 3,670 Template:Pct 3,941 Template:Pct 4,143 Template:Pct 4,214 Template:Pct
Mormonism — — — — — — 2,044 Template:Pct 2,657 Template:Pct
Baptism — — 143 Template:Pct 724 Template:Pct 1,548 Template:Pct 2,270 Template:Pct
Calvinism 915 Template:Pct 959 Template:Pct 1,265 Template:Pct 1,482 Template:Pct 1,784 Template:Pct
Catholicism 865 Template:Pct 583 Template:Pct 724 Template:Pct 1,151 Template:Pct 1,240 Template:Pct
Irvingism — — — — — — — — 202 Template:Pct
Anglicanism 3 Template:Pct 15 Template:Pct 103 Template:Pct 152 Template:Pct 114 Template:Pct
Methodism — — — — — — — — 42 Template:Pct
Eastern Orthodox 1 Template:Pct 1 Template:Pct 26 Template:Pct 19 Template:Pct 30 Template:Pct
Moravianism — — — — — — — — 8 Template:Pct
Quakerism — — — — — — — — 2 Template:Pct
Other religions 2 Template:Pct 1 Template:Pct 7 Template:Pct 23 Template:Pct 332 Template:Pct
No religion — — — — 2 Template:Pct 19 Template:Pct 12 Template:Pct
Total 1,283,027 1,350,327 1,414,539 1,499,850 1,600,551

Census results (1870–1921)

Religion 1870[16] 1880[17] 1890[18] 1901[19] 1911[19] 1921[19]
Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %
Church of Denmark 1,769,583 Template:Pct 1,951,513 Template:Pct 2,138,529 Template:Pct 2,416,511 Template:Pct 2,715,187 Template:Pct 3,200,372 Template:Pct
Catholicism 1,857 Template:Pct 2,985 Template:Pct 3,647 Template:Pct 5,373 Template:Pct 9,821 Template:Pct 22,137 Template:Pct
Baptism 3,223 Template:Pct 3,687 Template:Pct 4,556 Template:Pct 5,501 Template:Pct 5,664 Template:Pct 6,989 Template:Pct
Judaism 4,290 Template:Pct 3,946 Template:Pct 4,080 Template:Pct 3,476 Template:Pct 5,164 Template:Pct 5,947 Template:Pct
Methodism 260 Template:Pct 746 Template:Pct 2,301 Template:Pct 3,895 Template:Pct 4,284 Template:Pct 4,858 Template:Pct
Irvingism 349 Template:Pct 1,036 Template:Pct 2,609 Template:Pct 3,812 Template:Pct 2,778 Template:Pct 3,459 Template:Pct
Adventism — — — — — — 764 Template:Pct 1,282 Template:Pct 2,622 Template:Pct
Calvinism 1,433 Template:Pct 1,363 Template:Pct 1,252 Template:Pct 1,112 Template:Pct 1,142 Template:Pct 1,164 Template:Pct
Eastern Orthodox 12 Template:Pct 15 Template:Pct 38 Template:Pct 106 Template:Pct 256 Template:Pct 535 Template:Pct
Mormonism 2,128 Template:Pct 1,722 Template:Pct 941 Template:Pct 717 Template:Pct 797 Template:Pct 487 Template:Pct
Moravianism 2 Template:Pct 60 Template:Pct — — — — — — 463 Template:Pct
Anglicanism 74 Template:Pct 125 Template:Pct 137 Template:Pct 176 Template:Pct 192 Template:Pct 409 Template:Pct
Unitarianism — — — — — — 62 Template:Pct 147 Template:Pct 195 Template:Pct
Quakerism 28 Template:Pct 117 Template:Pct — — 66 Template:Pct 65 Template:Pct 13 Template:Pct
Presbyterianism — — 21 Template:Pct — — — — — — — —
Swedenborgianism — — 10 Template:Pct — — — — — — — —
Islam 1 Template:Pct 8 Template:Pct — — — — — — — —
Other Christian 1,297 Template:Pct 444 Template:Pct 11,730 Template:Pct 3,468 Template:Pct 1,254 Template:Pct 1,495 Template:Pct
Other religions 141 Template:Pct 167 Template:Pct 412 Template:Pct 873 Template:Pct 892 Template:Pct 3,942 Template:Pct
No religion 63 Template:Pct 1,074 Template:Pct 2,148 Template:Pct 3,628 Template:Pct 8,151 Template:Pct 12,744 Template:Pct
Total 1,784,741 1,969,039 2,172,380 2,449,540 2,757,076 3,267,831

Membership statistics from 1984 to 2008:

Religion 1984[20] 1995[21] 2008[22]
Number % Number % Number %
Church of Denmark 4,684,060[23] Template:Pct 4,539,773 Template:Pct 4,490,195 Template:Pct
Other Protestant 10,725 Template:Pct 49,730 Template:Pct 43,320 Template:Pct
Catholic Church 27,387 Template:Pct 32,367 Template:Pct 37,123 Template:Pct
Islam — — — — 23,540 Template:Pct
Mormonism — — 4,204 Template:Pct 4,500 Template:Pct
Eastern Orthodox 250 Template:Pct 671 Template:Pct 9,120 Template:Pct
Buddhism — — 2,459 Template:Pct 4,448 Template:Pct
Judaism 2,442 Template:Pct 3,320 Template:Pct 2,180 Template:Pct
Hinduism — — — — 1,649 Template:Pct
Norse mythology — — — — 650 Template:Pct
Mandaeism — — — — 600 Template:Pct
Baháʼí Faith — — 277 Template:Pct 350 Template:Pct
No membership 387,716 Template:Pct 582,747 Template:Pct 858,116 Template:Pct
Total 5,112,130 5,215,718 5,475,791

Minor religions and beliefs

Islam

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Nusrat Djahan Mosque, an Ahmadiyya mosque in Hvidovre just outside Copenhagen. Is the first purpose-built mosque in Denmark.
An Ahmadiyya mosque in Hvidovre just outside Copenhagen. The first[24] purpose-built mosque in Denmark.

According to Danish researcher Brian Arly Jacobsen, Muslims living in Denmark make up ca. 256,000 people or approximately 4.4% of the population in 2020 and form the country's second largest religious community and largest minority religion.[25] As of 2017 there were 28 recognised Muslim communities and around 185 mosques in Denmark.[26] Ahmadis constructed the first mosque in the capital, Copenhagen. There were approximately 655 Ahmadis all over Denmark in 2006.[27]

Judaism

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". A Jewish community has been present in Denmark since the seventeenth century, when the monarchs began allowing Jews to enter the country and practice their religion on an individual basis. Emancipation followed gradually and by the end of the nineteenth century most Jews were fully assimilated into Danish society. In the early decades of the twentieth century there was an influx of more secular, Yiddish speaking, Eastern European Jews. Nearly 99% of Danish Jews survived the Holocaust, in part due to the actions of the Danish resistance, and to the Swedish authorities' offer of asylum to the Danish Jews.[28]

Today there are approximately 6,000 ethnic Jews in Denmark, 1700 of them being members of the official organization The Jewish Community in Denmark.[29]

Baha'i Faith

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The Baháʼí Faith arrived in Denmark in 1925, but it did not make much impact until the arrival of American pioneers in 1946. A national Spiritual Assembly was formed in 1962. In 2005, it was estimated that there were about 1,251 Baha'is in the country.[30]

Buddhism

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Buddhism in Denmark was brought back from expeditions that explored the Indian subcontinent. Initial interest was mainly from intellectuals, authors, Buddhologists and Philologists. In 1921, Christian F. Melbye founded the first Buddhist Society in Denmark, but it was later dissolved in 1950 before his death in 1953.[31][32] In the 1950s, there was a revival in interest towards Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism. Hannah and Ole Nydahl founded the first Karma Kagyu Buddhist centers in Copenhagen.[31][32] The third wave of Buddhism came in the 1980s, when refugees from Vietnam, Sri Lanka and China came to Denmark.

In 2009 Aarhus University estimated that there were 20,000 practising Buddhists in Denmark.[33][34]

Hinduism

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". There are 40,000 (0.5%) Hindus in Denmark as of 2020.[35]

Sikhism

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". In Denmark there are about 4,000 Sikhs of Punjabi origin.[36]

Other religions

File:Mormons visit a country carpenter.jpg
"Mormons visit a country carpenter" (1856) by Christen Dalsgaard, depicting a mid-19th-century visit of a Mormon missionary to a Danish carpenter's workshop. The first Mormon missionaries arrived in Denmark in 1850.

According to a survey of various religions and denominations undertaken by the Danish Foreign Ministry, other religious groups comprise less than 1% of the population individually and approximately 2% when taken all together.[37]

Neopaganism

A neopagan religious group, Forn Siðr — Ásatrú and Vanatrú Association in Denmark, describes itself as a revival of the Norse paganism prevalent in Denmark before Christianization. It gained state recognition in November 2003.[38] There are about 500 registered heathens (0.01% of the population) adhering to the old Norse beliefs.

In 2016, the designer Jim Lyngvild established the heathen building Manheim in Korinth on Funen.[39]

Irreligion

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". In 2013, just under 20% of the Danish population identifies as atheist.[6]

Politics and government

Five of Denmark's prime ministers have identified themselves as atheists.

Danish Constitution

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The Constitution of Denmark contains a number of sections related to religion.

Freedom of religion

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". In its 2024 Freedom in the World report, Freedom House rated the country 4 out of 4 for religious freedom:[42]

Freedom of worship is legally protected. However, the Evangelical Lutheran Church is subsidized by the government as the official state religion. The faith is taught in public schools, though students may withdraw from religious classes with parental consent.

In 2018, a general ban on the public wearing of face coverings, widely referred to as a “burqa ban” applicable to Muslim women, took effect. Between 2018 and 2020, an average of 20 people a year were charged with violating the ban. In 2021, only two charges were filed under the law, and in 2022, only one. Fines for defying the ban range from $150 to $300.

In 2018, Parliament adopted a law requiring mandatory participation in a ceremony for confirmation of newly granted Danish citizenship, with guidelines including a requirement for shaking hands. The provision was viewed as a means of requiring Muslims who refuse to touch someone of a different gender on religious grounds to adopt practices seen as “Danish.” In February 2022, one person was denied citizenship for protesting the law by refusing to shake hands during the citizenship ceremony.

In December 2023, Parliament adopted an amendment to the penal code that criminalized “inappropriate treatment” of religious texts in public, in response to several burnings of the Quran in Denmark and Sweden earlier in the year that sparked anger in some Muslim nations. Filming and distributing a video of such an act was banned as well. Violators face a fine or up to two years in prison. Critics said that the ban was a restraint on freedom of speech.

[42]

Denmark is a member of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.

See also

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Notes

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References

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External links

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Denmark – Constitution – Part I – Section 4 [State Church]: "The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and, as such, it shall be supported by the State."
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Church membership 1984 Danmarks statistik Template:In lang
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Fler lämnade kyrkan i Danmark 3.1.2015 Kyrkans tidning
  11. ↑ Statistics Denmark Statistikbanken.dk
  12. ↑ § 4, "the Evangelical-Lutheran Church is the Danish people's church and is supported as such by the State" ("den evangelisk-lutherske kirke er den danske folkekirke og understøttes som sådan af staten")
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around the World, pg. 184
  25. ↑ Hvor mange muslimer er der i Danmark? Website of Danish media company Mandag Morgen, 24 April 2020.
  26. ↑ Kühle, L. and M. Larsen (2017): Moskeer i Danmark II: En ny kortlægning af danske moskéer og muslimske bedesteder. Center for Samtidsreligion,123 University of Aarhus.
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ "Rescue in Denmark." U.S. Holocaust Museum https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007740
  29. ↑ Template:In lang Dansk jødisk historie. Website of the Jewish Community in Denmark, retrieved 20 May 2019.
  30. ↑ Most Baha'i Nations (2005)
  31. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Journal of Global Buddhism, Article by Jørn Borup, Department of Study of Religion at University of Aarhus, Denmark. 2008, based on research from 2005 Template:Webarchive
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named tv2
  40. ↑ Grundloven på let dansk, Folketinget, 2001
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".


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