*This story was first published in June 2017. It was one of our most popular stories for the year.*



Our so-called 'God's own' country is fast becoming anything but.

A century ago New Zealand was one of most religious places on the planet, with the great majority of Kiwis, Pākehā and Māori alike, believing in some form of Christianity.

Fast forward a few generations and not only Christianity, but belief in any form of religion, has dissipated to the point where almost half of all Kiwis don't associate with any religious belief at all.

Comparing the decline in religious belief over the past five national censuses shows just how accelerated non-belief has become since the 1990s.