NEW YORK — A new survey finds that white Christians have become a minority in the United States.

The Public Religion Research Institute says only 43 per cent of Americans say they are white and Christian, compared to about eight in 10 who said so four decades ago.

Christians overall remain a large majority in the country, comprising about 70 per cent of the population.

But their ranks are being transformed by immigration and by the growing number of people who don’t participate in organized religion.

The trend has had an impact across the spectrum of Christian traditions, including among white evangelicals, who until recently had been viewed as immune to decline.

The survey found 17 per cent of Americans now identify as white evangelical, compared to about one-quarter a decade ago.