Church attendance in Russia

According to a 2019 report "Using data from surveys carried out by the Higher School of Economics in Moscow in 2018, the sociologist Yana Roshchina worked out that while almost 81 percent of adult Russians consider themselves Orthodox, this is often a declaration of identity rather than faith. Just 6 percent of the population and 43 percent of believers go to church several times a month. According to Interior Ministry statistics, 4.3 million people across the country attended Easter services in 2019 – around 100,000 fewer than a year before."

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia

In 2023, the website Orthodox Christianity indicates:

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According to a new survey from the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, the overall percentage of Orthodox Christians has decreased in Russia in recent years, while the percentage of those who actively practice the faith is up. There are especially fewer believers among young people, and the numerical advantage of Christians over Muslims is shrinking. The results of the survey conducted in July show that 57% of Russians consider themselves Orthodox today, which is down 6% from 2019—a trend that has been observed over the past decades, writes RIA-Novosti. According to religious scholar Roman Lunkin, the declining number comes from those who have identified themselves as “generally Orthodoxy” in the past—a diverse group that includes “unbelieving Orthodox” and Orthodox who don’t like the Russian Orthodox Church. He also proposed that less people are identifying themselves simply on cultural or ethnic grounds now. Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, the chairman of the ROC’s Educational Committee believes the drop is at least partially due to the greater availability of information about the Orthodox faith: “People are starting to learn that being Orthodox means taking on more ethical obligations, restrictions in life. Someone doesn’t want to do this, so he distances himself.” Amongst people aged 18 to 24, the portion of non-believers has grown by 5 points since 2019 to 42% today. Among 25 – 34-year-olds, there is a significant number who fluctuate between belief and unbelief or who consider themselves believers but without adherence to any specific religion (10% each).

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Survey data

Pew Research reported in 2017: "Relatively few Orthodox or Catholic adults in Central and Eastern Europe say they regularly attend worship services, pray often or consider religion central to their lives. For example, a median of just 10% of Orthodox Christians across the region say they go to church on a weekly basis."

In 2022, it was reported that attendance at Russian Orthodox Church services in Russia has dropped to around one percent.

See also

• Secular Europe