Polls suggest UK young adults’ belief in a higher power is rising
UK young adults’ belief in the existence of a higher power has doubled in four years, correlating with an uptick in church attendance, according to a YouGov tracker.
UK young adults’ belief in the existence of a higher power has more than doubled in four years, correlating with an uptick in church attendance, according to a YouGov biannual tracker.
The tracker found that 37% of adults aged 18-24 said in August 2025 that they believe there is a God or that “there are Gods.” In August 2021, only 16% in the same age group said the same thing. Young adults are also the most likely age group to believe in a god.
Based on YouGov data from January 2025, at which time UK young adults’ belief in a higher power was at 45%, GB News reported Aug. 15 that at that point, young people’s belief in God had almost tripled since 2018.
The data do not provide specific numbers on what percentage of young adults have Christian beliefs about God. However, GB News noted that church attendance has increased in the UK between 2018 and 2024, which are the years with the most recent YouGov data on attendance. According to GB News, monthly church attendance saw 56% growth in that time period, going from 8% of UK adults in 2018 to 12% in 2024.
Study: Gen Z Catholics a key driver of Christianity’s rise in UK
Citing YouGov data, GB News also reported that the number of young adults aged 18-24 who attend church at least monthly quadrupled between 2018 and 2024, going from 4% to 16%. Young men reportedly saw a larger increase in monthly attendance than young women, with 13% of men attending church, compared with 10% of women.
GB News also cited studies that show attendance in the Anglican church declining, while the Roman Catholic Church in the UK is steadily growing, even on track to surpass the population of the Anglican church for the first time since King Henry VIII founded it in the 16th century.
According to Fr. Damian Feeny, an Anglican pastor, young people could be returning to church due to several factors, including a “need for structure, shape and routine in their life… and a desire for stability at a time when otherwise life can seem destabilised.”
