Proportion of Catholics in Spain 2011-2022

Although traditionally a Catholic country, Spain saw a decline in the number of believers over the past years. Compared to 2011, when the share of believers accounted for slightly over 70 percent of the Spanish population, the Catholic community lost approximately 12 percent of their faithful by 2022 with a share of 57.6 percent of the surveyed population. Believers of a religion other than Catholicism accounted for approximately 2.9 percent of the Spanish population in 2022 according to the most recent data.

A Catholic majority, a practicing minority

Going to mass is no longer a thing in Spain, or so it would seem when looking at the latest statistics about the matter: over 60 percent of those who consider themselves Catholics almost never attend any religious service in February 2020. With the exception of 2021, the figures only increased in the past years, with 55.5 percent of the population never going to religious services in 2011 up to 63.1 percent in 2020. The share of population that stated to be practicing believers and go to mass every Sunday and on the most important holidays accounted for only 16.4 percent in 2021.

The not so Catholic Spain

Around 27 percent of the surveyed population stated to be either non-believers or full atheists in 2018. Non-believers or people that do not have a religious faith maintained steadily over 14 percent over the past years with the latest figures showing a 16 percent of people that categorize themselves as so. The share of Spanish atheists is on the rise according to the most recent surveys, taking up 14 percent of respondents in 2021.