A large cohort of people never returned to regular religious worship since the Covid lockdowns, new figures from the CSO show.

Of those who regularly attended religious ceremonies in person prior to March 2020, more than half (55%) still regularly attend in-person, 8% say they only attend online, while more than one-third (37%) say they no longer frequent religious ceremonies on a regular basis.

Older respondents are most likely to still attend religious ceremonies either in person or online. Nearly seven in ten (69%) respondents aged 70 and over who attended religious ceremonies in person before the onset of the pandemic say they still regularly attend in person while one in eight (12%) of those in this age group opt to attend online instead. Conversely, two-thirds (67%) of younger respondents, i.e. those aged 18-29, say they no longer attend religious ceremonies regularly in any form. Three in ten (31%) say they still attend in person with only 2% saying they attend online.