London: The Census 2021 has shown that for the first time fewer than half of people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christian, media reports said.

The proportion of people who said they were Christian was 46.2%, down from 59.3% in the last census in 2011, reports BBC.

In contrast the number who said they had no religion increased to 37.2% of the population, up from a quarter, the British media reported.

Interestingly, those identifying as Muslim rose from 4.9% in 2011 to 6.5% last year.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) carries out the census in every 10 years.