On 1 January 2015 the members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland numbered 242,743, or 73.8% of the total population, compared with 250,759, (85.4%) in the year 2005. The Roman Catholic Church Diocese was the second largest religious organisation in 2015, with 11,911 members. Persons with no religious affiliation numbered 18,458 persons 1 January 2015, while 23,259 persons were members of non-registered organisations or not specified.
Number of persons by religious and life stance organisation 2005 and 2015 | |||||
2005 | 2015 | ||||
Number | % | Number | % | ||
Total | 293,577 | 100.0 | 329,100 | 100.0 | |
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland | 250,759 | 85.4 | 242,743 | 73.8 | |
Free churches | 13,247 | 4.5 | 19,320 | 5.9 | |
The Free Lutheran Church in Reykjavík |
6,281 | 2.1 | 9,556 | 2.9 | |
The Free Lutheran Church in Hafnarfjörður |
4,375 | 1.5 | 6,416 | 2.0 | |
The Independent Congregation |
2,591 | 0.9 | 3,348 | 1.0 | |
Other religious and life stance organisations | 15,455 | 5.3 | 27,428 | 8.3 | |
The Roman Catholic Church Diocese |
5,787 | 2.0 | 11,911 | 3.6 | |
The Pentecostal Assembly |
1,813 | 0.6 | 2,108 | 0.6 | |
The Asatru Association |
879 | 0.3 | 2,675 | 0.8 | |
Other religious and life stance organisations |
6,976 | 2.4 | 10,734 | 3.3 | |
Other and not specified | 8,777 | 3.0 | 23,259 | 7.1 | |
No religious organisation | 7,152 | 2.4 | 18,458 | 5.6 |
Changes in religious affiliations in 2014
A total of 4,529 changes of religious or life stance affiliation were registered in 2014. Most of these concerned deregistration from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, or 2,533 persons. In total 2,079 fewer new registrations over deregistration were in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland in the year 2014, but 1,716 the year before. In the year 2014 most new registrations in excess of resignations were in No religious organisation, or 1,225 persons, and in The Roman Catholic Church Diocese (469).
Statistics