A large cohort of people never returned to regular religious worship [1] 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.