In short
In the 2021 census, 80.2% of people in Portugal identified as Roman Catholic, and about 84.8% were Christian of some kind, making Portugal one of the most Catholic countries in Western Europe. Yet secularization is accelerating: those with no religion reached 14.1% in 2021, up from 6.8% in 2011, more than doubling in a decade. Smaller Christian groups include Protestants at 2.1% and Orthodox Christians at 0.7%. The shift is sharpest among the young, part of the broad Western European secularization documented by the Pew Research Center.
- In the 2021 census, 80.2% of people in Portugal were Roman Catholic, and about 84.8% were Christian of some kind (INE).
- People with no religion reached 14.1% in 2021, up from 6.8% in 2011, more than doubling in a decade (INE).
- Protestants were 2.1% and Orthodox Christians 0.7% of the population in 2021 (INE).
- Portugal remains one of the most Catholic countries in Western Europe, but secularization is accelerating, especially among the young (Pew Research Center).
Portugal has long been one of the most Catholic countries in Western Europe, and it still is. In the 2021 census, 80.2% of people in Portugal identified as Roman Catholic, and about 84.8% were Christian of some kind, according to INE, Statistics Portugal. These come from the voluntary religion question in the national census, which covers residents aged 15 and over. But the picture is changing: the share with no religion reached 14.1% in 2021, up from 6.8% in 2011, more than doubling in a single decade. Smaller Christian communities, mainly Protestants and Orthodox Christians, round out the landscape. The figures below draw on the 2021 census from INE and on the Pew Research Center, which has documented the broad secularization of Western Europe.
Key findings at a glance
| Metric | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholic | 80.2% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Christian of all kinds | 84.8% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| No religion | 14.1% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| No religion (2011) | 6.8% | 2011 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Protestant | 2.1% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Orthodox Christian | 0.7% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
Portugal is still overwhelmingly Catholic
Catholicism is woven into Portuguese history, culture, and public life, from Fatima to the parish calendar. The 2021 census confirms that it remains the faith of the large majority. Roman Catholics make up four in five people, and Christians of all kinds make up close to six in seven.
In the 2021 census, 80.2% of the population in Portugal identified as Roman Catholic, according to INE.
In 2021, about 84.8% of the population in Portugal were Christian of some kind, according to INE.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholic | 80.2% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Christian of all kinds | 84.8% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Protestant | 2.1% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Orthodox Christian | 0.7% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
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The non-religious more than double
The clearest sign of change is the rise of people who report no religion. Between the 2011 and 2021 censuses their share more than doubled, a pace of secularization that mirrors trends across Western Europe even as Portugal stays more Catholic than most of its neighbours.
In the 2021 census, 14.1% of people in Portugal reported no religion, up from 6.8% in 2011, more than doubling in a decade, according to INE.
In the 2011 census, 6.8% of people in Portugal reported no religion, less than half the 2021 share, according to INE.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| No religion (2021) | 14.1% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| No religion (2011) | 6.8% | 2011 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Roman Catholic (2021) | 80.2% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
Other Christians and faiths
Beyond the Roman Catholic majority, Portugal is home to smaller Christian communities. Protestants and evangelicals form the largest of these, followed by Orthodox Christians, whose numbers reflect migration from Eastern Europe over recent decades.
In the 2021 census, 2.1% of the population in Portugal were Protestant, according to INE.
In the 2021 census, 0.7% of the population in Portugal were Orthodox Christian, according to INE.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protestant | 2.1% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Orthodox Christian | 0.7% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| Christian of all kinds | 84.8% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
| No religion | 14.1% | 2021 | INE (Statistics Portugal, 2021 Census) |
How we compiled these statistics
Every number on this page is traceable to a primary source and dated to the year the data were collected. The religion figures come from the 2021 Census published by INE, Statistics Portugal, which asks a voluntary religion question of residents aged 15 and over, with the 2011 census used for the ten-year comparison. Context on the broader secularization of Western Europe, and on the divide between older and younger believers, comes from the Pew Research Center. Where data years differ, we use the most recent published census year and label it.
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