The proportion of people in England and Wales identifying as Christian has fallen below 50% for the first time, according to census data.

Some 46.2% of the population described themselves as Christian on the day of the 2021 census, down from 59.3% a decade earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

This is the first time the proportion has dropped below half.

The percentage of people saying they had no religion jumped from 25.2% in 2011 to 37.2% in 2021.

The proportion of people describing themselves as Muslim increased from 4.9% to 6.5% and the percentage of people saying they were Hindu went up from 1.5% to 1.7%.

The religion question was voluntary on the 2021 census but was answered by 94% of the population of England and Wales, up from 92.9% in 2011, the ONS added.