Figures from the latest census released today revealed Northern Ireland now has a larger Catholic than Protestant population for the first time since the establishment of the state.
The 2021 census revealed that 45.7 percent of the population identify as Catholic, whereas only 43.5 percent identified as either Protestant or another Christian denomination.
When the census was last released in 2011, Protestants made up a larger portion of Northern Ireland’s population at 48 percent, compared to Catholics who made up 45 percent.
9.3 percent of the population belonged to no religion, which raised from 5.6 percent in 2011.
New information about the religious make-up in Scotland is not expected until next year after the Scottish government delayed carrying out the census because of the pandemic.