More than half of Dutch 'not religious'

Fewer Dutch associate themselves with religion. AFP

By Jung Min-ho

For the first time in the Netherlands' history, the number of Dutch who consider themselves “religious” is less those who don't, a survey shows.

Citing Statistics Netherlands, local media reported Monday that 49 percent of Dutch aged 15 or older said they belong to a religious group; 51 percent said they are not religious.

In 2016's survey, half said they were religious, down four percentage points from 2012.

Roman Catholic remains the largest group (24 percent), followed by Protestant (15 percent) and Islam (5 percent), according to the latest survey.

It also shows that 78 percent of Dutch rarely or never attend a religious service. Ten percent said they do so weekly, 3 percent two or three times a month, 3 percent once a month and 7 percent less than once a month.

Among the religious Dutch, 52 percent are women.

People 18 to 25 are the least religious age group: only a third said they are religious. Among the over 75s, 71 percent said they belong to a religious group and 34 percent regularly attend services.