On 1 January 2011 the adult members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland (aged 18 years and older) numbered 183,697, or 77.2% of the total population of that age, compared with 186,697, (78.8%) in the previous year. The Roman Catholic Church Diocese was the second largest religious organisation in 2011, with 6,366 adult members. Persons with no religious affiliation numbered 11,868 adult persons 1 January 2011, while 14,846 persons were members of non-registered organisations or not specified.
| Number of 18 years and older by religious organisation 2010 and 2011 | |||||
| 2010 | 2011 | ||||
| Number | % | Number | % | ||
| Total | 236,948 | 100.0 | 238,035 | 100.0 | |
| The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland | 186,697 | 78.8 | 183,697 | 77.2 | |
| Free churches | 11,832 | 5.0 | 12,500 | 5.3 | |
| The Free Lutheran Church in Reykjavík | 6,026 | 2.5 | 6,366 | 2.7 | |
| The Free Lutheran Church in Hafnarfjörður | 3,632 | 1.5 | 3,847 | 1.6 | |
| The Independent Congregation | 2,174 | 0.9 | 2,287 | 1.0 | |
| Other religious organisations | 14,254 | 6.0 | 15,124 | 6.4 | |
| The Roman Catholic Church Diocese | 6,559 | 2.8 | 6,905 | 2.9 | |
| The Pentecostal Assembly | 1,626 | 0.7 | 1,608 | 0.7 | |
| The Asatru Association | 1,266 | 0.5 | 1,532 | 0.6 | |
| Other religious organisations | 4,803 | 2.0 | 5,079 | 2.1 | |
| Other and not specified | 15,682 | 6.6 | 14,846 | 6.2 | |
| No religious organisation | 8,483 | 3.6 | 11,868 | 5.0 | |
Changes in religious affiliations in 2010
A total of 6,810 changes of religious affiliation were registered in 2010. Most of these concerned deregistration from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, or 5,092 persons. The majority (3,619) changed their registration to no religious affiliation, with 960 persons switching to one of the Free Churches. Most persons changed their affiliation to become members of the Roman Catholic Church Diocese or 653. Of them 617 were previously registered as Other and not specified.
| Changes in religious affiliation 2010 | |||||||
| New affiliation | |||||||
| The | The | ||||||
| Evangelical | Roman | Other | No | ||||
| Lutheran | Catholic | religious | Other | religious | |||
| Church | Free | Church | organ- | and not | organ- | ||
| Previous affiliation | Total | of Iceland | churches | Diocese | isations | specified | isations |
| Total | 6,810 | 206 | 1,103 | 653 | 981 | 12 | 3,855 |
| The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland | 5,092 | . | 960 | 28 | 482 | 3 | 3,619 |
| Free churches | 202 | 53 | 22 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 96 |
| The Roman Catholic Church Diocese | 69 | 29 | 5 | . | 8 | 1 | 26 |
| Other religious organisations | 354 | 52 | 35 | 4 | 178 | 6 | 79 |
| Other and not specified | 943 | 44 | 38 | 617 | 209 | . | 35 |
| No religious organisation | 150 | 28 | 43 | 2 | 75 | 2 | 0 |
| Note: All ages | |||||||
Registered religious organisations increased by 22 from 1990
There were 10 registered religious organisations outside the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland and the associated Free churches in 1990. They are now 32. Five new religious organisations were recognised in 2010: Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International, Catch The Fire (CTF), Port of Hope, Heaven on Earth, and Icelandic House of Prayer.
Notes
Membership of a religious organisation which has been recognised by the Ministry of the Interior is registered in the national register of persons. Parish fees are allocated from the government to each parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland and to each recognised religious organisation on the basis of the number of persons 16 years and older by 31 December as determined by a population count on 1 December. Fees for persons with no religious affiliation or members of unrecognised organisations or unspecified were abolished in 2009.
Statistics