section_path: Demographics/Religion
section_name: Religion
paragraph_text: Religion
  
  Christianity is the dominant religion in Denmark. As of 2024, 71.2% of the population of Denmark were members of the Church of Denmark (Den Danske Folkekirke), the officially established church, which is Protestant in classification and Lutheran in orientation. The membership percentage has been in steady decline since the 1970s, mainly as fewer newborns are being baptised into it. Only 3% of the population regularly attend Sunday services and only 19% of Danes consider religion to be an important part of their life.
  
  The Constitution states that the sovereign must have the Lutheran faith, though the rest of the population is free to adhere to other faiths. In 1682 the state granted limited recognition to three religious groups dissenting from the Established Church: Roman Catholicism, the Reformed Church and Judaism, although conversion to these groups from the Church of Denmark remained illegal initially. Until the 1970s, the state formally recognised "religious societies" by royal decree. Today, religious groups do not need official government recognition; they can be granted the right to perform weddings and other ceremonies without this recognition. Denmark's Muslims make up approximately 4.4% of the population and form the country's second largest religious community and largest minority religion. The Danish Foreign Ministry estimates that other religious groups comprise less than 1% of the population individually and approximately 2% when taken all together. Just under 20% of the Danish population identifies as atheist.
  
  According to a 2010 Eurobarometer poll, 28% of Danish nationals polled responded that they "believe there is a God ", 47% responded that they "believe there is some sort of spirit or life force " and 24% responded that they "do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". Another poll, carried out in 2009, found that 25% of Danes believe Jesus is the son of God, and 18% believe he is the saviour of the world.
  
  In its 2024 Freedom in the World report, Freedom House rated the country 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.