Strong increase in non-believers in Norway

The proportion of non-believers increases sharply, while the proportion of believers decreases steadily, according to Norsk Monitor’s (Norwegian Monitor) survey for 2017.

According to the figures for 2017, there are 12 percentage points more who do not believe in God than are believers. Almost half of the population, 46 per cent, admits that they are non believers, while a mere 34 percent state that they believe in a God, according to Fritanke.

That is a dramatic change from previous years.

2013 was the first year that an equall umber of respondents answered yes or no to the simple question, “Do you believe in God?” In 2015 non-believers constituted the majority for the first time in Norway, by 39 to 37 per cent of those willing to answer the poll.

Norsk Monitor is a survey that maps Norwegians value systems, attitudes and behavior, and has been executed out every second year since 1985. A population sample of 4,000 persons over 15 years of age respond to the survey.

Following the increase in the proportion of non-believers in 2017, the Norwegian Human Ethical Society (Human-Etisk Forbund) believe that it is time to realize that development should have consequences for the official spaces and debate in the Norwegian society.

– We must change public services that are still mainly geared towards a unanimous Christian society. We need to strive for greater diversity. – There must be built more neutral ceremony rooms, and we can no longer only have pastors involved in hospital talks, says consultant in the Human Ethical Society, Lars-Petter Helgestad.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today