Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1493026
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 FEBRUARY 2023 NEWS Census 2021: Maltese citizens overwhelmingly identify as Roman Catholics KURT SANSONE MALTESE citizens still over- whelmingly identify them- selves as Roman Catholics, the 2021 Census reveals. The Census shows that 96.4% of Maltese citizens aged 15 and over identify with Roman Ca- tholicism although the exercise did not ask whether they are practicing Catholics. This was the first time that the Census asked about reli- gious affiliation and the ques- tion was only put to those aged 15 and over. Malta's overall resident population for this co- hort of people stood at 451,746 but almost one fourth are for- eigners. Of the 347,577 Maltese cit- izens, 335,054 identify as Ro- man Catholics with the second largest cohort being that which pertains to no religious affilia- tion at 7,254, or 2.1%. This level of identification among citizens of a country with the Roman Catholic re- ligion is possibly one of the highest in the world, apart from the Vatican. Only 1,746 Maltese citizens identify with Islam, which equates to 0.5%, while 1,346, or 0.4%, identify with Christian Orthodoxy. The numbers change radical- ly when looking at the 104,169 non-Maltese residents aged 15 and over. Of these, 38,250 or 36.7%, identify with Roman Catholi- cism, while 15,708, or 15.1%, identify with Islam. Another 15,111, or 14.5%, identify as Christian Orthodox and 6,276, or 6%, consider themselves ad- herents of Hinduism. Among foreigners, 15,989 have no religious affilia- tion, equating to 15.3% of all non-Maltese. The Census findings for the whole population (Maltese and non-Maltese) show that 82.6%, or 373,304, identify with Ro- man Catholicism, 3.9% (17,454) with Islam, 3.6% (16,457) with Christian Orthodoxy, and 1.4% (6,411) with Hinduism. The Church of England has 5,706 adherents, while 4,516 identify with Protestantism. 23,243 people have no religious affiliation, equating to 5.1% of residents aged 15 and over. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Census: 96.4% of Maltese citizens identify as Roman Catholics, while second largest cohort at 2.1% is that which has no religious affiliation Only 1,746 Maltese citizens identify with Islam, which equates to 0.5%, while 1,346, or 0.4%, identify with Christian Orthodoxy