RELIGION

Religion in Sweden is diversified. Christianity was the religion of virtually all of the Swedish population from the 12th to the early 20th century, but it has rapidly declined throughout the late 20th and early 21st century. In 2015, legally registered Christians comprised 69.9% of the total population.

Prior to their Christianisation that became complete around the 12th century, the Swedes practised forms of Norse religion. At first they became part of the Catholic Church; then, from the 1530s, Sweden switched to Lutheranism as part of the Protestant Reformation which converted most of Germanic Europe; the Church of Sweden was formed and remained the official religion of the Christian state until the turn of the 21st century. The 21st century brought with itself a rapid decline of Christianity overall, the disestablishment of the Church of Sweden, and the modest growth of other religions, often brought by waves of immigration from outside the country. These last include Islam, Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other Eastern religions.