NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS

ROMANIA

La statistique [est la] science de l tat

Michel Foucault

WHAT
RELIGION?

does
the 2011 Census
tell us about

- October 2013 -

With a tradition of more than 150 years, Romanian official statistics

is coordinated and organized by the National Institute of
Statistics (INS), a central public administration specialized body
subordinated to the Government of Romania.
Operating in a framework of professional independence and
political neutrality, the INS is the main institution responsible for
producing and disseminating official statistics in Romania.
Mission
The activity of the INS is essential both for the Government and
the other co-authors of public policies with a view to knowing the
Romanian society in a European context. Knowing the society
from an economic and social point of view is necessary not only to
the Government but also to Romanian and foreign investors, local
authorities, economic operators, researchers or the general public.
As part of the European Statistical System alongside Eurostat (the
Statistical Office of the European Commission) and the other
statistical institutes of the 28 EU Member States, Romanian official
statistics is in line with the methodologies and standards used at
international and European level for investigating social and
economic life.
Data source: INS
Contact data:
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS
Bulevardul Libertii, nr. 16, Sector 5, Bucureti
Telephone: +4021 318 18 71; +4021 317 77 70
Fax: +4021 312 48 75
e-mail: romstat@insse.ro
http://www.insse.ro
Graphics: INS, Statistical Publications Editing Division
Cover photo: c.vitty
INS, October 2013

What does the 2011 Census

tell us about

RELIGION?
- methodological note Religion is one of the most important factors in defining the
identity of a nation. Collecting information on religious
affiliation, in addition to data on ethnicity and mother tongue,
makes the general picture of the society we live in complete.
In accordance with the law, these indicators were measured
only for the persons interviewed during the Population and
Housing Census conducted in October 2011. Religious affiliation
was measured by aggregating the answers obtained (based on
the freely given declaration of the persons interviewed) in
response to the question: What religion does the person
consider he/she belongs to?
For the 2011 Population and Housing Census, the calculation
method to determine the weight of each cult involved the
deduction of the population recorded under the unavailable
information item from the total stable population.
The flyer focuses on the confessional structure resulting from
the 2011 Census. This structure was compared to the results of
the previous three Romanian Censuses that contained relevant
information on religious affiliation, namely those conducted in
2002, 1992 and 1930.
Definitions of the indicators used:
W(65+) = the weight of elderly persons (aged 65 years or more)
in the total number of persons pertaining to each
religious cult.
W(<15) = the weight of the persons who, at the Census reference
moment, had not turned 15 years in the total number
of persons belonging to each religious cult.
AA = the average age of the persons belonging to each religious
cult, which is calculated as an arithmetic mean of the
ranges medians weighted by the number of persons of the
concerned age.

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION ACCORDING

TO THE 2011 CENSUS

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION ACCORDING

TO THE 1930 CENSUS

No. of persons

No. of persons
Eastern
Orthodox

13,108,227

Greek-Catholic

1,427,391

Roman Catholic

1,234,151

Calvinist
Reformed

710,706

Evangelical
Lutheran

398,759

Unitarian

10,005 (0.06%)

Armenian
Catholic

1,440 (0.01%)

Adventist
Baptist
Mosaic
Mohammedan
Other religious affiliation
and denomination
No religious affiliation,
freethinker
Not declared
0%

(7.90%)
(6.83%)

16,102 (0.09%)
60,562 (0.34%)
(4.19%)
(1.03%)

7,434 (0.04%)
6,604 (0.04%)
6,686 (0.04%)
0.5%

1% 2%

870,774

Reformed

600,932

Baptist
Seventh-day
Adventist
Muslim

57,288 (0.32%)

185,486

Roman Catholic

Greek-Catholic

(2.21%)

756,930

16,307, 004

Pentecostal

(3.94%)

69,257 (0.38%)

Armenian
Gregorian

Lipovan

(72.59%)

Eastern Orthodox

8% 70%

80%

(3.19%)
(1.92%)

150,593 (0.80%)
112,850 (0.60%)
80,944 (0.43%)
64,337 (0.34%)

Unitarian

57,686 (0.31%)

Evangelical Christian

42,495 (0.23%)

Jehovahs Witnesses

49,820 (0.26%)

Old-Rite Christian

32,558

(0.17%)

Evangelical Lutheran

20,168

(0.11%)

Evangelical of A.C.

5,399

(0.03%)

Serbian Orthodox

14,385

(0.08%)

Romanian Evangelical

15,514

(0.08%)

Mosaic

3,519

(0.02%)

Armenian
Other religious
affiliation
No religious affiliation

30,557 (0.16%)

Atheist

20,743 (0.11%)

0
5%

362,314

(86.45%)
(4.62%)

393

(0.0026%)

18,917 (0.10%)

0.5%

1.0%

2.5% 5.0% 80%

100%

The evolution of the number of believers according to the

Population Censuses of 1992, 2002 and 2011

1992
Total population
enumerated
22810035
Eastern Orthodox

2002

2011

21680974

20121641* W(<15) W(65+) AA

18861902 15,9% 16,1% 40,6

% years

86.81

 86.79

 86.45

14.7

16.6 41.3

Roman Catholic

5.09

4.73

4.62

15.2

16.9 41.0

Reformed

3.52

3.23

3.19

13.4

19.0 42.8

Pentecostal

0.97

1.50

1.92

29.9

10.3 31.7

Greek-Catholic

0.98

0.88

0.80

12.9

27.7 46.9

Baptist

0.48

0.58

0.60

16.2

20.2 42.2
22.5 43.1

Seventh-day
Adventist

0.34

0.43

0.43

15.8

Muslim

0.25

0.31

0.34

21.1

9.7 35.4

Unitarian

0.34

0.31

0.31

13.1

20.7 43.7

Evangelical
Christian
Jehovahs Witnesses

0.22
-

0.21
-

0.23
0.26

21.9
11.6

16.1 37.5
22.9 45.4

Old-Rite Christian

0.12

0.18

0.17

15.2

17.0 41.8

Evangelical Lutheran

0.11

0.13

0.11

11.1

26.7 47.3

Evangelical of A.C.
Serbian Orthodox

0.17
-

0.04
-

0.03
0.08

11.3
9.5

29.1 47.6
24.7 47.6

0.08

0.08

15.9

21.1 42.1

0.04

0.03

0.02

5.5

45.4 58.6

Other religious affiliation 0.25

0.41

0.16

16.9

12.9 37.8
27.0 48.3

Romanian Evangelical
Mosaic
Armenian

0.002

9.7

No religious affiliation

0.11

0.06

0.10

23.4

7.6 32.8

Atheist

0.05

0.04

0.11

3.5

9.3 40.0

* The stable population (recorded in the P forms + the population indirectly

collected from administrative sources).

The number of believers in Romania according to the Population Censuses of 1992, 2002 and 2011

2002

Baptist

250,000

150,000
191,556
150,593

150,000
100,000

2002

76,708

112,850

100,000

50,000

40,000
20,000

1992

2002

20,000

1992

2002

5,399

30,557

20,000
0

1992

2002

30,000

2011

67,257 64,337

40,000
20,000

1992

Number of persons

30,000

28,141

10,000

2002

55,928

38,147

1992

2011

2002

2011

Evangelical Lutheran

20,000

60,000

2011

32,558

2011

20,000

27,112
21,221

20,168

10,000

2011

9,670

Romanian Evangelical

6,057

Jehovahs Witnesses

3,519

2,000
0

1992

2002

2002

1992

2002

2011

18,178

2011

15,514

2011

49,820

Serbian Orthodox

2011

14,385

Armenian

2011

393
10,000

2011

20,000

50,000

Atheist

No religious affiliation

30,000

30,000

56,329

40,000

2002

4,000

89,196

80,000
60,000

42,495

2002

Number of
persons

6,000

Other religious affiliation

100,000

2002

1992

80,000

Old-Rite Christian

8,000

2011

100,000

Muslim

25,000

1992

220,824

200,000

50,000

362,314

300,000

2011

80,944

Mosaic

30,000

1992

10,000

8,716

75,000

2011

20,000

39,119

10,000

44,476

40,000

324,462

93,670
77,546

40,000
49,963

2011

Evangelical of A.C.
40,000

2002

Number of persons

57,686

60,000

1992

60,000

66,944

2002

100,000

Evangelical Christian

Number of persons

Number of persons

80,000

1992

400,000

Seventh-day Adventist

109,462

300,000

2011

126,639

2011

Unitarian

Number of persons

2002

50,000
1992

600,932

600,000

24,314
18,917

20,000
12,825
10,000

Number of persons

200,000

Number of persons

Greek-Catholic

Number of persons

1992

2011

223,327

701,077

0
1992

Number of persons

Number of persons

300,000

802,454

Number of persons

5,000,000

600,000

Pentecostal

Number of persons

10,000,000

870,774

900,000

Number of persons

16,307,004
15,000,000

900,000

1,200,000 1,161,942
1,026,429

Number of persons

18,817,975

Number of persons

19,802,389

Number of persons

Number of persons

20,000,000

Reformed

Roman Catholic

Eastern Orthodox

20,743

20,000

10,000

10,331

8,524

Results of the 1992 Census

0

1992

2002

2011

1992

2002

2011

Results of the 2002 Census

Results of the 2011 Census