Religion
Share of the population belonging to neither the Protestant (EKD) nor the Catholic church, 31.12.2025
82.7% of people in the eastern states belonged to neither of the two big churches at the end of 2025, against 49.9% in the West. Every eastern state is more secular than every western state. Berlin (81.4%) is close to the eastern level. In Saxony-Anhalt only 12.8% are Protestant or Catholic; in Saarland, the most church-bound state, 59.2% are. Catholics are a small minority in the East (3.8% against 27.4% in the West).
< 48.5%48.5%56.3%64.0%71.7%≥ 79.5%
Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·16 states · 31.12.2025
Former West
49.9%
excl. Berlin
Former East
82.7%
excl. Berlin
Berlin
81.4%
Germany
56.1%
The East's figure is 1.7× the West's (31.12.2025).
By state
- Sachsen-Anhalt87.2%
- Brandenburg84.8%
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern84.7%
- Sachsen81.7%
- Berlin81.4%
- Thüringen76.1%
- Hamburg73.4%
- Bremen67.4%
- Schleswig-Holstein59.8%
- Hessen55.2%
- Niedersachsen50.0%
- Baden-Württemberg49.6%
- Nordrhein-Westfalen49.1%
- Rheinland-Pfalz44.6%
- Bayern44.4%
- Saarland40.8%
31.12.2025
Notes & caveats
- Our calculation: (population − Protestant church members − Catholics) ÷ population × 100, using EKD membership counts, Catholic counts from the German Bishops' Conference (as reproduced by the EKD) and Destatis population on 31.12.2025 (based on the 2022 census). Our state shares agree with the EKD's own percentages.
- "Neither" is not the same as "no religion": it also includes members of Orthodox and free churches, Muslims, Jews and other faiths, which the church statistics do not count.
- In Germany as a whole 56.1% belong to neither church (Protestant 20.8%, Catholic 23.0%). Protestants: East 13.5%, West 22.7%, Berlin 11.6%.
- District-level figures exist only in the 2022 census (Zensus 2022, table 1000A-1018 "Personen: Religion": Roman Catholic / Protestant / other, none or not stated), which is not included here because it is a different reference date and source.
Show the table
| State | Side | 31.12.2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Saarland | west | 40.8% |
| Berlin | berlin | 81.4% |
| Brandenburg | east | 84.8% |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | east | 84.7% |
| Sachsen | east | 81.7% |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | east | 87.2% |
| Thüringen | east | 76.1% |
| Schleswig-Holstein | west | 59.8% |
| Hamburg | west | 73.4% |
| Niedersachsen | west | 50.0% |
| Bremen | west | 67.4% |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | west | 49.1% |
| Hessen | west | 55.2% |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | west | 44.6% |
| Baden-Württemberg | west | 49.6% |
| Bayern | west | 44.4% |