Non-believers make up a quarter of Swiss population

According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office on Wednesday, the number of permanent residents without a religious faith has more than doubled since the year 2000. Christianity is on the decline and followers of Islam are increasing gradually.

The percentage of residents who identified as non-believers jumped from 11.4% in 2000 to 24.9% in 2016. A third of these non-believers identified as atheists while a quarter declared themselves to be agnostic (unsure if a God existed or not).

Among the believers, the Catholics were the most devoted with the largest proportion (26%) attending a religious service between six to 12 times a year. Evangelists were the most pious with 51% praying every day and 34% several times a day.

Muslims on the other hand were the least devoted with 46% admitting to never attending a religious service and 40% to never praying in the last 12 months. Only 12% among them attended collective prayers once a week and 17% prayed almost every day.

Women were more likely to have metaphysical beliefs with 58% (compared with 37% of men) believing in fairies or supernatural beings. More than half of women surveyed believed that people possess psychic powers.