LONDON: The number of Britons who are religious has declined significantly in the last 30 years and the number of adherents to the established Church of England has halved, a survey revealed on Tuesday.

Just 52 per cent of people said they belong to a religion, down from 68 per cent in 1983, according to the latest British Social Attitudes survey, which has been conducted every year for the last three decades.

The percentage of people who class themselves as “Church of England/Anglican” has meanwhile fallen from 40 per cent in 1983 to just 20 per cent last year, the poll of more than 3,000 people found.

The Church of England remains the state religion in England, headed by Queen Elizabeth II.

Adherence to Catholicism has remained broadly stable at nine percent, while the percentage of non-Christians has tripled from two to six per cent.

Some 48 per cent said they had no religion, compared to 31 per cent in 1983.—AFP