Up to and including September, 10,201 people have chosen to join the Church of Sweden, according to preliminary statistics. This is a significant increase compared to recent years, for example, a total of 10,889 people joined in 2023 and 9,848 in 2022. The number of withdrawals is still significantly higher - but the trend is clear:
More than in a long time, people are seeking out the church.
We see a clear increase. The number of new members has increased in recent years, but 2024 stands out. It's interesting because it's not an election year for the church. Election years usually mean more new members because you get to vote as a member, says Jonas Bromander, docent in sociology of religion and investigator at the Church of Sweden, to TT.
Three groups - young people the largest
According to Bromander, there are three groups in society behind the membership surge. These are former members who have withdrawn and are re-evaluating their decision, immigrants who were not previously members, young people who are not baptized and are being confirmed, and thus becoming members.
Moreover, a large group of those who have joined is around 15 years old, which suggests that many confirmands are becoming members, says Bromander.
We are currently living in uncertain times, and although there is no evidence-based data to support the thesis, Jonas Bromander says that it cannot be ruled out that people are seeking out the Church of Sweden to find security and community.
It's nothing we see in our figures, but I know it's being discussed a lot in the different parishes. That the uncertain times are having an impact. You can also wonder if the situation in the world is making more young people want to be confirmed, he says.
Relevance and significance
In total, around 5.5 million Swedes are members of the church. This year's increase certainly doesn't make a big difference economically for the operation, but it's still significant.
It's clear that it's positive. We've been living with a large withdrawal for many years, and now we're seeing that the number of withdrawals is also decreasing. It's important for the Church of Sweden to feel that it has relevance and significance for people, says Jonas Bromander.
New members:
2014: 7,542
2015: 8,199
2016: 7,553
2017: 9,328
2018: 8,227
2019: 8,618
2020: 8,412
2021: 11,264
2022: 9,849
2023: 10,889
2024: 10,201 (up to and including September)
Withdrawals:
2014: 46,177
2015: 46,895
2016: 85,848
2017: 93,093
2018: 67,605
2019: 59,044
2020: 54,440
2021: 69,221
2022: 46,817
2023: 38,743
2024: 23,465 (up to and including September)
Source: Church of Sweden
