France is a religiously diverse and secular nation. Christianity is the majority religion and is followed by almost half of the population. It has a high percentage of the Irreligious population, people who don’t follow or adhere to any religion.

Among Christians about three-fifths of the French people belong to the Roman Catholic Church.  Protestants, who number 700,000 or 2% of the population, belong to several different denominations. Eastern Orthodoxy and Other Christians account for 4% of the population.

Non-Christian faiths account for 12%, and the remaining 40% are classified as unaffiliated, which can mean agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular.”

Among other religions, Muslims account for 5% of the French population. Reflecting the presence of immigrants from North Africa, Algeria, and Morocco, France has one of Europe’s largest Muslim populations: an estimated 5,000,000 Muslims, a sizable percentage of them living in and around Marseille in southeastern France, as well as in Paris and Lyon.

There are more than 700,000 adherents of Judaism accounting for 1% of France’s Population. Buddhism is also followed by a sizeable number of the population and accounts for 1-2 % of the population. Other faiths include Hinduism, Sikhism, Baháʼí Faith, Paganism, and New Age religion.

Religion Percentage in France as of 2021

Source: Eurobarometer 2021

Projected Religious Demographics (2020-2050)

According to Pew Research projections, the share of Christians in the population is expected to decline steadily from 58.1% in 2020 to 43.1% by 2050, mainly due to secularization trends. Meanwhile, the unaffiliated population is projected to rise significantly from 31.9% to 44.1% over the same period. Islam is expected to grow moderately, increasing from 8.3% in 2020 to 10.9% in 2050, while other religions will remain stable at around 1%. This shift highlights the growing trend of religious disaffiliation and the steady presence of Islam in the religious landscape.

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