Evangelical Christians in Switzerland are bucking the nationwide decline in religious belief and practice, standing out for their commitment to regular worship, prayer, and spiritual engagement.
The data, sourced from the Réseau évangélique suisse (RES), which represents 250 Evangelical churches across French-speaking Switzerland, is based on a report titled Religiosity and Spirituality in Switzerland (2024), published Monday by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (SFSO). The report relies on data from the Language, Religion and Culture Survey (ELRC), conducted every five years since 2014.
“The Swiss Evangelical Network (RES) is delighted that evangelical churches are mentioned for the first time in the study and that they stand out from the general trend in religious practice,” RES stated in a news update in French.
“It is also [encouraging] that around 40% of the population prays at least once a month and that, according to the SFSO, religion and spirituality still play an important role in the daily lives of a large proportion of the population.”
The report explained that Switzerland is historically a “Christian country,” but also highlighted the increasing number of people with no religion despite diversity in religious beliefs.
RES commented, “Contrary to the title of the SFSO press release, ‘Decline in religious faith and practice continues,’ evangelical churches are bucking this trend,” explaining that Evangelicals are categorized under “other Christian communities.”
The 2024 figures indicate that Christianity remains the most widespread religion in Switzerland, despite a downward trend. More than half (51%) of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “More spiritual thinking would benefit society.” Additionally, half of the respondents believe in an afterlife.
Data for 2024 show that the population identifies as 31% Roman Catholic, 19% Reformed Protestant, and 6% Evangelical. The report highlighted differences within these groups: a third of Swiss Roman Catholics are religious and spiritual, compared to nearly a quarter of Reformed Protestants, while for Evangelical churches, the proportion rises to almost 50%.
Over the past decade, the SFSO noted that regular reading of spiritual books, magazines or internet articles has spiraled upwards from 13% to 20%.
RES reported, The increase in spiritual reading is strongest among members of evangelical churches (+21%), the Reformed (+12%), and 15-24-year-olds (+13%). They also stated that reading religious books is more widespread among members of Evangelical churches (45%) and Muslims (35%) than in other religious communities.
Furthermore, evangelicals are more likely to participate in “spiritual events and religious services,” with 30.3% attending at least once per week. Regular prayer times have also increased by at least seven percent within Evangelical churches.
