Fewer people identify as Christian and more people are non-religious in Oldham than a decade ago, new census figures show.

However, a lower proportion of Oldhamers identify as having no religion when compared with the rest of England and Wales.

Humanists UK ran campaigns in the lead-up to the censuses in 2011 and 2021 encouraging non-religious people to select "no religion".

The organisation said the recent figures should be a “wake-up call” for reconsidering the role religion has in society.

Office for National Statistics data from the 2021 census shows 45 per cent of people in Oldham selected Christianity as their religion, down significantly from 60 per cent in the last survey a decade before.

This means the proportion of Christians in the borough is roughly similar to the whole of England and Wales, where 46 per cent described themselves as Christian, down from 59 per cent a decade earlier.

It is the first time the proportion has dropped below half.

About 25 per cent of Oldhamers selected “no religion” last year, up from 16 per cent in 2011.

This is still much lower than nationwide – the percentage of people in England and Wales saying they had no religion jumped from around a quarter (25 per cent) in 2011 to more than a third (37 per cent) last year.

The figures show more people in Oldham identify as Muslim, with 24 per cent selecting the religion last year, up from 18 per cent in 2011.

This means Christianity was still the most popular choice in Oldham, though Christians no longer make up a majority of residents.

Nationally, there were increases in the proportion of people describing themselves as Muslim, with 6.5 per cent selecting the religion last year, up from 4.9 per cent in the previous census.

More Oldham people also identified as Hindu, increasing from 1.5 per cent in 2011 to 1.7 per cent in 2021.

The population identifying as Hindu remained mostly the same, at 0.5 per cent.

There were just 468 Buddhists and 146 residents who selected Judaism.

Of the other options, 159 said they were pagans and seven Oldhamers said they practice Heathenism.

The National Secular Society said the figures show that aspects of society such as the Anglican establishment and daily prayers and worship in parliament and schools, are “all inappropriate, hopelessly outdated and fail to reflect the country we actually live in” and called for reform.

Stephen Evans, the society's chief executive, said: “It’s official – we are no longer a Christian country.”

The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell said: "It’s not a great surprise that the census shows fewer people in this country identifying as Christian than in the past, but it still throws down a challenge to us not only to trust that God will build his kingdom on Earth but also to play our part in making Christ known."