Sweden Religion

Church of Sweden (Lutheran) 7,143,292 79.60%

Atheist/Agnostic 1,567,567 17%
Roman Catholic 132,630 1.50%
Eastern Orthodox 100,000 1.0%
Jehovah's Witnesses 19,101 0.23%
Baptist 18,631 0.21%
Islam 16,000 0.20%
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 8,400 0.10%
Hinduism 8000 0.09%

Canadian Census Survey

Selected Religions
Percentage
Religion Percentage change
distribution (1991- Median
2001 (2001) 2001) age

Canada
Total population 29,639,030 100.0% 9.8% 37.3
Roman Catholic 12,793,125 43.2% 4.8% 37.8
No religion 4,796,325 16.2% 43.9% 31.1
United Church 2,839,125 9.6% - 8.2% 44.1
Anglican 2,035,500 6.9% - 7.0% 43.8
Christian not included elsewhere
780,450 2.6% 121.1% 30.2
(1)
Baptist 729,470 2.5% 10.0% 39.3
Lutheran 606,590 2.0% - 4.7% 43.3
Muslim 579,640 2.0% 128.9% 28.1
Protestant not included elsewhere
549,205 1.9% - 12.7% 40.4
(2)
Presbyterian 409,830 1.4% - 35.6% 46.0
Pentecostal 369,475 1.2% - 15.3% 33.5
Jewish 329,995 1.1% 3.7% 41.5
Buddhist 300,345 1.0% 83.8% 38.0
Hindu 297,200 1.0% 89.3% 31.9
Sikh 278,410 0.9% 88.8% 29.7
Greek Orthodox (3) 215,175 0.7% - 7.1% 40.7
Mennonite 191,465 0.6% - 7.9% 32.0
Orthodox not included elsewhere
165,420 0.6% 79.9% 35.4
(4)
Jehovah's Witnesses 154,750 0.5% - 8.1% 38.7
Ukrainian Catholic 126,200 0.4% - 1.7% 45.0
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 101,805 0.3% 8.4% 28.7
day Saints (Mormons)
Salvation Army 87,790 0.3% - 21.9% 39.3
Christian Reformed Church 76,670 0.3% - 9.5% 32.3
Evangelical Missionary Church 66,705 0.2% 48.4% 35.2
Christian and Missionary Alliance 66,285 0.2% 11.9% 34.5
Adventist 62,880 0.2% 20.1% 35.5
Non-denominational (5) 40,545 0.1% 26.7% 33.0
Ukrainian Orthodox 32,720 0.1% - 5.1% 45.8
Aboriginal spirituality 29,820 0.1% 175.1% 25.0
Hutterite 26,295 0.1% 22.3% 22.2
Methodist (6) 25,730 0.1% 6.1% 43.9
Pagan (7) 21,080 0.1% 281.2% 30.4
Brethren in Christ 20,590 0.1% - 22.0% 38.2
Serbian Orthodox 20,520 0.1% 109.5% 34.8

The two biggest differences between Canada and Sweden would be in its Christian
population and in its non-religious population.

In Canada, the biggest Christian population are Roman Catholics at 43.2% of the total
population, while Protestants are at 29.2%. This is in contrast with the Sweden in which
around 79% of the population are officially Protestant. However, the statistics for Sweden
might be more unreliable, as some surveys placed the percentage of atheists to be as high
as 29%, which contradicts official data on the membership of the Church of Sweden.
While there are more Protestants in Canada than in Sweden, the percentage of Protestants
in Sweden is at least twice the percentage in Canada. The number of Roman Catholics in
Sweden is also almost negligible, while they are the largest religious group in Canada.
Other Christian denominations in Sweden seem to have percentages similar to that in
Canada: which is to say forming very small parts of the population. Relying on official
data, the percentage of Christians in Canada as part of the total population is 77%, with
around the same number in Sweden.

It is somewhat ironic for Sweden, an originally Catholic country, to have a negligible

Catholic population while Canada, thought of as part of the Anglo-Saxon Protestant
realm has Roman Catholic that is larger than its Protestant population.

As previous mentioned, the data on Atheism in Sweden might be inaccurate, however,

the highest seems to place it at 29%.

For non-Christian religious part of the population, the Swedish segments of the
population is normally 1/10 that of its Canadian counterparts: for instance Muslims
compose 0.2% of the Swedish population but is 2% of Canada’s.
Religious Statistics Vancouver

Vancouver, City
Religion
Total

Total - Religion 539,630

Catholic 102,315
Protestant 94,010
Christian Orthodox 9,090
Christian, n.i.e. 23,600
Muslim 9,345
Jewish 9,620
Buddhist 37,140
Hindu 7,670
Sikh 15,200
Eastern religions 1,250
Other religions 2,455
No religious affiliation 227,925

The city of Vancouver is alike with Sweden in that it holds an extraordinary number large
number of people with no religious affiliations. Almost 42.2% are recorded as non-
religious, mostly from Asian immigrant communities, higher than even the higher
estimates of atheism in Sweden.

In stark contrast with Sweden, however, is the fact that Protestants compose only 17.4%
of the population in Vancouver, as oppose to a much higher percentage in Sweden. As
with Sweden, most people who are not Christians or Atheists form a minor percentage of
the population. Unlike Sweden however, Sikhs and Buddhists form an exceptionally
high part of the population of Vancouver, around 2.8% for the former and 5% for the
latter, while the Swedish presence of both are negligible. This is again, due to the large
Asian immigration population in Vancouver.

In conclusion, due to historical circumstances, namely the hostility of the Swedish state
towards the Catholic Church during the reformation, became a country in which
Protestants consists of the majority of Christians. Sweden and Canada are both liberal
countries, which would explain the high amount of Atheists in both. Both countries still
display their Christian history when more than ¾ of the people in each are considered
Christians. Owing to more immigration, Canada has a significant larger proportion of
believers of non-Christian religions.

Vancouver is a city with a significantly larger Atheist, Buddhist and Sikh population than
the Canadian average, and a correspondingly lower amount of Christians. Other than that,
religious demographics among the population of Vancouver resemble those for the rest of
Canada, and similar comparisons can be made.