Generation Z is more religious than the millennial

The number of church members is still decreasing, but more people than millennials consider themselves a believer. This is evident – on Palm Sunday – the press release concerning the publication of the sixth edition of ‘God in the Netherlands’. That is the ten-year survey of Radboud University, HDC Center for Religious History of the VU University Amsterdam and KRO-NCRV. They conduct research into the religious and ecclesiastical developments in the Netherlands, focused on the Christian faith.

The research is based on the answers of around 2,000 Dutch people. They completed a survey in 2024. This shows that the secularization continues: in 2015 32 percent of the Dutch were a member of a church, ten years later that is 27 percent.

It is striking that 27 percent of the people surveyed (Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012) regards themselves as a believer. That is more than the generation before: 22 percent of the millennials (1981-1996) are religious. Also in a tour of NRC In March this year it turned out that various denominations signal an increasing religious interest from young people. De sale of Bibles is increasing, research by the Nederlands Dagblad.

Since 1966 the research ‘God in the Netherlands’ has been taking place. Later editions were published in 1979, 1996, 2006 and 2015. Later this month, the publication ‘God in the Netherlands 1966-2024’ will be published, containing the full research results.

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